From replicating racism to invading privacy, the use of artificial intelligence by police hasn't fared well in the past.
However, all of that might be about to change thanks to a new tool that scientists claim can predict crime with up to 90% accuracy.
University of Chicago researchers say they have created a machine learning algorithm that can not only tell law enforcement when crime is going to happen, but help keep an eye on 'aggressive' policing in the US which often leads to innocent people getting shot.
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The tool in question monitors patterns in crime data spanning property crimes, violence, and theft, and uses this information to keep an eye on both criminals and the cops.
The team behind the study created 'digital twins' of urban areas in eight US cities, using crime data from the past as well as information on crime hotspots.
The authors of the report said that their technologies could be used to keep an eye on 'system biases' in law enforcement and monitor the impact of racist or biased policing practices in poorer areas of US cities.
Ishanu Chattopadhyay, one of the professors who created the tool, said: "Rather than simply increasing the power of states by predicting the when and where of anticipated crime, our tools allow us to audit them for enforcement biases, and garner deep insight into the nature of the (intertwined) processes through which policing and crime co-evolve in urban spaces."
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The innovation follows a new Chinese government scheme which uses AI to analyse lots of sensitive data on citizens to spot 'high-risk' behaviour ahead of time.
Leaked documents from the New York Times claim that authorities will build profiles of citizens using private data and information on their criminal records, gender, race, mental health history, Internet searches and more.
Police will be sent priority alerts if multiple people deemed 'high risk' by the system gather in one place, including near schools.
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