AI predicts crime a week in advance with 90 per cent accuracy – but may also perpetuate racist bias

RoboCop may be getting a 21st Century reboot, as an algorithm has been found to predict future crime a week in advance with 90 per cent accuracy.

The artificial intelligence (AI) tool forecasts crime by learning patterns in time and geographic locations of violent and property crimes.

Data scientists at the University of Chicago trained the computer model using public data from eight major US cities. 

However it has proven controversial, as the model does not account for systemic biases in police enforcement and its complex relationship with crime and society.

Similar systems have been shown to actually perpetuate racist bias in policing, which could be replicated by this model in practice.

However these researchers claim their model could be used to expose the bias, and should only be…