AI experts are sounding the alarm about crime-prediction algorithms

For years the tech industry, alongside some academics, has attempted to make a case for using "crime predicting" algorithms that, according to its proponents, would make the world a safer place. But experts who study artificial intelligence (AI) warn that reliance on, or blind faith in, any sort of predictive algorithm will only worsen the existing racism that pervades the criminal justice system. A public letter from more than 1,000 artificial intelligence experts from Harvard, MIT, Google, and Microsoft released this week wants to drive the point home. The experts addressed their letter to the Springer publishing company, urging it to cancel its plan to publish a paper in favor of using predictive algorithms for crime detection. The paper claims that the technology can predict the likelihood of an individual committing a crime with "80 percent accuracy" but experts say this technology will only help the "tech-to-prison-pipeline," Motherboard reports.