TO: Professor Ellis
FROM: Shoron Reza
DATE: 02/28/2021
SUBJECT: 500-Word Summary of Article About Artificial Intelligence
The following is a 500-word summary of a journal article about the benefits of artificial intelligence as well as unknown risks in context of the judicial system. The author highlights that AI is a technological advancement that has substantially influenced the world of law and criminal justice. He also emphasizes that there have been a few AI inaccuracies which have caused red flags in the past. The article focuses on artificial intelligence related to eDiscovery, predictive policing, crime solving, risk assessment and the judicial use of AI in court cases. It also indicates the development of AI facial recognition software to identify prime suspects and criminals. Artificial Intelligence has been a great help to society and its people however, there are many risk factors that have not yet been officially acknowledged.
AI has the ability to be efficient and effective with resources to decrease the work of manual laborers as well as increase the comfort of people’s lives.AI has made a significant impact in the world of law enforcement by assisting them with facial recognition and crime prediction algorithms. With the help of AI, police officers have had an easier time to recognize suspected criminals and also calculate the possibility of a perpetrator committing a crime once again. Additionally, Al-based facial recognition software has been employed to identify suspects from images caught on security cameras, cell phones, and other video sources (Dixon 2021). Law enforcement agencies use Predpol, which is an AI algorithm that contributes in foreseeing crimes for certain areas on a daily basis. Researchers are also introducing algorithms to determine class of weapons based on gunshot audio.These algorithms will be able torecreate crime scenes by using certain data to help investigators improve their understanding of an event.COMPAS is an AI driven assessment tool to reassess defendants in criminal cases.
In recent events, the Department of Justice discovered repetitive law violations by the police regarding the use of extreme force against Black people, minority groups and failing to report women violence issues. Evidence indicates that the developers of the algorithm did not provide accurate historical data. Supporters of AI think that this is the only way to decrease human error and bias in official courts. However, studies show that AI has actually revealed bias in the past, mistakenly claiming Black defendants as potential criminals more than white defendants. There was a study conducted in 2017, where they recruited volunteers online, asking them to predict whether certain individuals are likely to repeat a crime. The crowdsourced predictions were as precise as COMPAS at predicting repeated offenders. Although AI algorithms are great at recognizing consistency in data and are able to generate predictable results, consistency and predictions are not the same as being fair. Technologies and machines struggle to operate in a world where biases and prejudices exist. Overall, AI plays an important increasing role in our lives and the criminal justice system. However, it can sometimes do more harm than good and we as a society need to re-evaluate the uses of AI.
Reference
Dixon Jr., R.). J. H. B. (2021). Artificial Intelligence: Benefits and Unknown Risks. Judges’ Journal, 60(1), 41–43.
