In the sci-fi movie Minority Report, Tom Cruise plays a police officer investigating ‘pre-crimes’ – those which are yet to happen, but are predicted by super-intelligent psychic beings. Real-life Argentina might not be relying on psychics, but President Javier Milei has unveiled plans to use AI to ‘predict future crimes’ in a move which has alarmed civil rights activists.
As any software engineer will tell you, a predictive algorithm is only as good as the data you put into it
The creation of the catchily-named ‘Artificial Intelligence Applied to Security Unit’ is an attempt to integrate AI into modern law enforcement practices in South America’s second-largest economy. It will use ‘machine-learning algorithms’ on past data to predict the future, the legislation says, alongside deploying facial recognition software to identify suspects.
The announcement has chilled human rights advocates in Argentina, where many still remember the brutal and repressive tactics employed by the country’s right-wing dictatorship in the late 1970sand early 1980s. An estimated 30,000 people were forcibly ‘disappeared’ over the course of the seven-year regime, including many thrown from planes in the dead of night in what have become known as ‘death flights’.
The Argentine Centre for Studies on Freedom of Expression and Access to Information warned that Milei’s technologies could be used to profile academics, journalists or activists. Mariela Belski, Amnesty International’s in-country director, told the Guardian she feared that even just the existence of the technology would be enough to cause people to self-censor their ideas or criticisms.
Security minister Patricia Bullrich, who switched to supporting Milei after being defeated by him in the first-round of last year’s election, claimed that the technology would improve the efficiency of police and security forces allowing for ‘faster and more precise’ action in response to threats.
For all the upset, Britons looking for examples of AI’s integration into policing need not look very far. Late last year, Tory policing minister Chris Philp urged UK police forces to double their use of AI-assisted facial recognition searches, while the National Police Chiefs Council announced its first lead for AI in March. Some UK forces also use AI software to transcribe emergency calls in real-time to provide immediate information on suspects.
Advocates will argue that such tools make the job of preventing crime and enforcing against offenders easier and quicker for officers and so should be welcomed, but there have been missteps too. Several cases of mistaken identity of black men in the US have led critics to justly question whether AI facial recognition can accurately assess black faces, and cities including Seattle and San Francisco have gone as far as to ban its use. This is perhaps what has concerned civil liberties activists about Milei’s plan.
Since his ascension to the presidency in December, Milei has taken steps to live up to his pledge to be tough on crime. In June, Bullrich was dispatched to El Salvador to get a first-hand glimpse of the brutal crime-busting strategies used by the self-proclaimed ‘cool dictator’ Nayib Bukele. A video showed her in a prison in front of a cell containing perhaps 20 or 30 inmates. She posted it with the caption: ‘This is the way. Tough on criminals. Freedom for good Argentines.’
The Milei administration has also been tough on protestors. It has proposed laws limiting rights around public assembly and officials have threatened to sanction the benefits of anyone bringing their children to protests. In February,police clashed with protestors outside the Argentine congress building, shooting rubber bullets and injuring dozens, including some journalists. The Milei government has been accused of ‘attempting to militarise domestic policy’.
In this context, it is no wonder that there are concerns around how AI could be used by law enforcement.
As any software engineer will tell you, a predictive algorithm is only as good as the data you put into it. Those who wish to remain among those whom Bullrich would consider ‘good Argentines’ may soon need to hope that the data is in their favour.
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