The British police are entering an era of high-tech modernization: tools powered by (AI) will now be part of their crime-fighting arsenal.
According to Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood, these new technologies will help “increase the number of officers on the streets and put rapists and murderers behind bars.”
So, what AI tools will the police have at their disposal?
Virtual Chatbots
The Thames Valley Police, Hampshire, and the Isle of Wight have recently become the first British law enforcement agencies to start testing a new AI-based virtual assistant known as Bobbi.
This application is designed to answer frequently asked questions directed to the police. Unlike , Bobbi uses “information from closed sources,” meaning only data provided by police officers.
Real-Time Facial Recognition
The Home Office plans to triple the number of mobile facial recognition units. According to the initial plan, each police department in England and Wales will have 50 of these vans.
Under current legislation, this technology can only be used to search criminal and suspect databases, as well as for individuals on bail.
The government promises that the operation of this AI tool will “be regulated by data protection, equality, and human rights laws.”
Retrospective Facial Recognition
In addition to these vans, police will receive new tools for retrospective facial recognition, as reported by Daily Mail. This AI-based technology can identify faces or specific objects in video footage from surveillance cameras, video doorbells, and mobile devices.
Deepfake Detection Tools
New AI tools designed to detect deepfakes will help prevent the spread of misleading images online. This will curb the criminal use of deepfake creation services powered by the same AI.
Recently, Liz Kendall, the UK’s Science Minister, announced that the government would ban AI tools for creating nude images of individuals without their consent. This decision came after a significant wave of criticism directed at Elon Musk’s Grok AI tool, which was used to generate numerous sexual deepfakes involving unsuspecting X users.
Digital Forensics Technologies
New AI tools for digital forensics will help police gather and analyze facts more efficiently. According to the government, one such tool currently in use by police in several counties can handle up to 27 cases in a single day.
Translation and Editing Tools for Audiovisual Materials
Automatic transcription, translation, and conversion of audio recordings into usable formats are also on the horizon for British police. These systems perform similar tasks to humans but do so more effectively and quickly.
Meanwhile, AI-based editing tools that “blur” facial features and important details like license plates reduce the time currently spent on these operations by 60 percent.
