RoboCops are unlikely to ever patrol British streets, according to the police chief leading Artificial Intelligence (AI) efforts. In an exclusive interview with the Daily Star, Chief Constable Alex Murray explained why the sci-fi movie scenario will probably not become reality.
Policing by Consent
The top cop spoke after launching PoliceAI, a firm rolling out AI services to police forces in England and Wales. On cyborg police, Murray said: "Our history in the UK is on policing with consent. It is about relationships, trust and legitimacy." He cited Sir Robert Peel, the father of British policing, who said "the police are the public and the public are the police." Murray added: "We will never be a police state. I don't want to live in a police state."
He emphasized the importance of human interaction: "I want to speak to human beings as much as possible. All the investments PoliceAI is making in AI are things the public will benefit from and expect us to invest in."
Technology vs. Human Officers
Murray acknowledged that technology like drones can be useful in high-risk situations, but said: "Having a machine purporting to be a police officer walking down the streets of London is probably for fairy tales." He also dismissed the idea of AI-operated drones carrying out lethal strikes, noting campaigns against autonomous lethal strikes and the importance of "humans in the loop."
PoliceAI's Tools
PoliceAI, with 50 employees and £75 million in government funding, is developing three tools: handling grunt work to speed up court cases, scanning horrific child abuse videos to protect officers, and analyzing CCTV almost instantly to identify leads. Murray said: "If we in policing chose not to deliver AI, we are deliberately making ourselves more expensive to deliver worse service. We must deliver AI in a responsible fashion." The technology could also advise officers approaching a scene, for example in complex cases like modern slavery.
