Police are failing to consult the public about their use of AI, charity warns

The police are failing to consult the public about their growing use of technologies including artificially-intelligence facial recognition and automated decision systems (ADS), a charity has warned. South Wales Police is the only police force in the UK known to be using AI in its policing to have confirmed it consulted with its local communities about its use, according to a report from The Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA). A Freedom of Information request returned in March found that London's Metropolitan Police Force, which began using live facial recognition tech in February following years of trials, had no record of consulting the public, despite suggesting that this would take place alongside deployment. The Met's software is deployed through signposted cameras focused on small areas to scan the faces of passers-by in areas the force believes are more likely to contain those wanted for serious and violent offences. The RSA sent requests to 45 territorial police forces, receiving confirmation that eight were using or trialling AI or ADS for policing decisions, including Durham Constabulary, Surrey Police and West Yorkshire Police.