Can machines step in where humans failed and tackle modern slavery? - Times of India

CHENNAI, India, Aug 9 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - With more than 20 million humans working as modern slaves, a technology developer is hoping artificial intelligence will help clean up the world's supply chains and root out worker abuse. Developer Padmini Ranganathan said mobile phones, media reports and surveillance cameras can all be mined for real-time data, which can in turn be fed into machines to create artificial intelligence (AI) that helps companies see more clearly what is happening down the line. "The time to do this now is better than ever before, with so many countries and companies focusing on modern slavery," she said in an interview with the Thomson Reuters Foundation. "At the start of the decade, the driving force for compliance was fear of being penalised. Now companies are looking at social impact and saying they want to do this."