The government has announced that offenders will be monitored by AI-powered surveillance on their own smartphones.
As part of this programme, offenders on probation will conduct regular remote check-in surveillance on their own mobile devices to help reduce and prevent crime.
Offenders will be required to record short videos of themselves and complete an AI-powered identity verification. They will also be made to answer questions about their behaviour and recent activities.
The government said that if those being monitored attempt to deceive the AI-powered identity verification, a red alert will instantly be sent to the Probation Service for immediate intervention.
The pilot programme is part of an £8-million initiative to enhance criminal surveillance and deliver safer streets by cracking down on prolific reoffending.
The pilot is being operated in four regions across England: the South West, North West, East of England, and Kent Surrey and Sussex. Based on the results, further rollout will be considered along with additional features such as GPS location verification.
“This new pilot keeps the watchful eye of our probation officers on these offenders wherever they are, helping catapult our analogue justice system into a new digital age,” said Prisons Minister Lord Timpson.
“It’s bold ideas like this that are helping us tackle the challenges we face. We are protecting the public, supporting our staff, and making our streets safer as part of our Plan for Change.”
Other bold ideas were recently pitched in Dragon’s Den fashion to Lord Timpson to help the government crack down on crime.
These included n AI home monitoring system, which would see cameras installed in offenders’ homes, and a ‘smell detector’ that used a combination of AI and synthetic brain cells to mimic the capabilities of a human nose.
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