"Deep learning, with its ability to spot patterns and find clusters of similar examples, has obvious potential to fight crime—and allow authoritarian governments to spy on their citizens. Chinese authorities are analysing people’s social-media profiles to assess who might be a dissident, says Patrick Lin, a specialist in the ethics of AI at Stanford Law School. In America, meanwhile, police in Fresno, California, have been testing a system called “Beware” that works out how dangerous a suspect is likely to be, based on an analysis of police files, property records and social-media posts. Another system, called COMPAS, provides guidance when sentencing criminals, by predicting how likely they are to reoffend. Such systems, which are sure to be powered by deep learning soon if they are not already, challenge “basic notions about due process”, says Mr Lin."
The Center for Internet and Society at Stanford Law School is a leader in the study of the law and policy around the Internet and other emerging technologies.