This is going to sound all too familiar, and credit to cinemagloraphy.org for the image of Tom Cruise in the movie, Minority Report, above. In that utopian fantasy world, crime rates were virtually zero – since they have thought police in the future who could arrest someone based on the intent and possibility of commiting a crime – even before it happens. Well, the London police might be going down a similar path, as they test out a new system which would enable them to figure out who is most likely to commit a crime before the dastardly action is carried out. Not quite Minority Report standard just yet, since this predictive technology does not cover regular joes, but rather, it will target gang members.
This is the first study of its kind in the U.K., and make no mistake about it – such predictive technology have already been tested and even rolled out elsewhere worldwide. The software in question was developed by Accenture, and it works this way – it will collect as much data as possible (the more, the merrier) of a suspect, before sifting through police systems to check out for red flags such as prior infractions. Last but not least, it will also scour through social media and look for possible behavioral hints. A specially designed algorithm will then determine just how likely one is able to commit a future crime.
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