What if with A.I. Surveillance we could find every missing person? There are more than 600,000 persons reported missing in the United States each year. That’s about 2,000 per day. Many of those persons are found or identified. But tens of thousands remain missing for more than a year. About 4,400 unidentified bodies are discovered each year in the U.S. Approximately 1,000 remain unidentified after one year.
As appalling as those number are, the International Center for Missing and Exploited Children estimates more than 800,000 children are reported missing each year. They know this estimate is low because of under reporting and lack of statistics in many countries.
The Future is Near
Is this good new or bad? Do you envision a world of the Minority Report or The Matrix?
How Good is A.I.?
Before you get too freaked out, let’s look at what level this A.I. Might function.
- A.N.I. is a program that is as competent as a human at just one specific task—and often, it’s better than human beings are at that task. (In 1997, for example, IBM’s Deep Blue program checkmated chess world champion Garry Kasparov.)
- A.G.I. is a program that is as smart as a human being in every capacity. It is, for all intents and purposes, a carbon copy of the human mind.
- A.S.I. is a program that is even marginally more intelligent than a human being.
Things to Consider
The second two, A.G.I. And A.S.I, don’t exist. So let’s assume the facial recognition A.I. is only able to be as competent but faster than a human at facial recognition.
Presumably, A.I. Surveillance with facial recognition will be more accurate and find missing children and wandering dementia patients faster. And that can only be a good thing, right?
But what about in the countries that don’t have the tech? Heck, what about the states and counties in the U.S. Alone, that don’t have that tech? Will we use facial recognition drones? Or supply free tech to those less fortunate?
What if the missing person wants to remain missing? Will we have more people “living off the grid?”
What if we use facial recognition A.I. for crime solving? That would be good, wouldn’t it? However, is it still good if it’s identifying jaywalkers or parking rules violators?
Is One Life Worth A.I. Surveillance?
To my heart and mind, even one missing child is too many. Even one dementia patient lost is too many. A.I. Surveillance with facial recognition could save many with the potential to save hundreds of thousands. And if it solves crime…bonus. But the ethics and the reach of this program remain things that need consideration. Three years isn’t very long.
