Using AI to analyze prison phone calls could amplify racial biases in policing
Plans to expand use of the tech have provoked alarm
AI biases
Speech recognition software is notorious for misinterpreting Black speakers.
A2020 Stanford University studyfound that speech-to-text systems used by Amazon, Google, Apple, IBM, and Microsoft had error rates that were almost twice as high for Black people as they were for white ones.
These disparities could reinforce racial disparities in the criminal justice system. Research shows thatBlack men in the US are six times as likely to be incarcerated as white men
Albert Fox Cahn, the executive director of the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project, told Reuters that the tech could “automate racial profiling” and violate privacy rights:
Prisons aren’t exactly designed to protect the privacy of inmates, but the AI system is a worrying addition to the surveillance regime.
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Story byThomas Macaulay
Thomas is a senior reporter at TNW. He covers European tech, with a focus on AI, cybersecurity, and government policy.Thomas is a senior reporter at TNW. He covers European tech, with a focus on AI, cybersecurity, and government policy.
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