Algorithms are now being used to statistically “predict” crime.
The fact that this sounds like Minority Report reveals the inherent flaw in so many sci-fi movies.
it’s possible for you to read the original announcement in Spanishhere.
After all, human intelligence is genuinely not that useful for much more than playing Snap.
However, its worth noting that this is not even the first time thatMinority Reporthas become a reality.
Theres truth in it.
And we are further off from developing mutant-in-bath technology than you might think.
In fiction, these technologieswork.
The line between predictive policing and racial profiling is so blurryits practically impossible to see.
So the police went to talk to him.
McDaniel found himself under constant police surveillance while friends began to distance themselves.
Eventually, these suspicions led to him getting shot.
Its depressingly, bitterly ironic.
Almost like a bad sci-fi story.
The algorithm designed to prevent crime caused the very crime it predicted and an innocent man was shot.
Except that it is nowhere near that clever.
But just like these supposed pre-crime programs, both of these stories come with biases baked in.
This was a crime of passion, committed in the moment, that never happened.
But this is an issue we see turn up time and again throughout the entire science fiction genre.
The science fiction narrative is clear here.
We give weapons to AI, the AI gains self-awareness, the AI kills its creators.
So the AI killed the operator because they were keeping it from accomplishing its objective.
Its a terrifying story.
It is also completely made up.
But the people coming up with these scenarios are often heavily involved in the sector.
In April, Israel reportedly usedAI powered databasesto draw up lists of bombing targets in Gaza.
Thats because no AI currently in development is going to surpass human intelligence.
But itcanbe used to devalue human labor and drive down wages.
There is nothing new about science fiction inadvertently stanning for the things it claims to be warning against.
Science fiction writers have alwayslovedthe Torment Nexus.
One ofStar Treksmost iconic villains,Khan Noonien Singh, was a superman created by eugenics.
Except in the episode it also, yknow, worked.
Science fiction is a genre that for all its camp and sillinesslovesto take itself seriously.
And it is right to do so.
Our world is becoming more science fictional all the time.
