AI Could Power Next-gen CCTV Cameras

Barence writes "UK researchers are working on fitting CCTV cameras with artificial intelligence, allowing them to more quickly respond to crimes. The technology, being developed by University of Portsmouth scientists, would allow cameras to "hear" violent sounds and react, swiveling quickly in the direction of a broken window or somebody shouting abusively for example, before alerting an operator. The artificial intelligence powering the camera would also be able to respond to visual cues such as fights, or violent behaviour."

Does not need to swivel but sound is useful

[ulash]

I am not exactly sure this would be useful for the swiveling aspect of things as mentioned by other posters. However using sound could be an interesting augmentation to vision if done using the right filters. Swiveling would not be a big issue if using a wide angle lens like a fish-eye lens.

Re:Easy to subvert.

[inKubus]

The best security is unpredictable. For instance, the security the casinos use, or the scheduling the Army uses for patrols. They use random noise to generate the schedule. With this, you are installing predictable rules into the camera, which (like in the Matrix) can then be bent or broken.

You could add some unpredicability to the AI, but then you might miss something. The best thing is a nice preventative camera viewing cone covering every inch of the surface you intend to protect, preferably with multiple cameras.

This could be of use in other aspects, such as accident cams and such. I think there was something like this in demolition man (Brave New World) wherein the nearest camera to a detected incident swiveled and zoomed. Everything of course was recorded. Crime of course was completely gone, bred out of society. Well, until an unconventional enemy showed up.

An interesting point of law:

[fuzzyfuzzyfungus]

At least in the US, the restrictions on video surveillance are much, much looser than those on audio surveillance(at least for the commoners). There has been some expansion of restrictions on strictly voyeuristic taping; but it is otherwise largely open season. Audio surveillance is much more restricted.

I'll be interested to see how the law treats a system that is a form of audio surveillance; but is not an audio recording device. Is it legal if the AI responds to sound but won't tell you what it responded to? Can the AI classify sounds into a variety of categories and report those? Is a verbatim speech-to-text record ok, as long as the audio is not recorded? Depending on how this one shakes down, it could end up being, in effect, an elimination of restrictions on audio surveillance.

This is getting old.

[stavrica]

Every schmuck who wants to get in the news slaps "Artificial Intelligence" on their contraption and suddenly the world stops to take notice.

Unless this system:

1. employs (or provides) some sort of multitiered malleable logic established by prior experiences that can identify a scenario based on inputs,

2. identifies the best case response to the identified scenario, using not only stored experiences (preprogrammed memory), but relevant characteristics of the scenario itself.

3. implements that best case scenario, checking constantly (or at least regularly) that the implemented actions are yielding results along the desired/expected solution path.

4. identifying the resolution phase of its response, so it can consider the scenario resolved and cease its response process. ...then there's no intelligence to it. What these fellows have sounds more like an advanced sound analysis engine that autonomously controls a camera swivel.

Good for them. Yay. Fun. Hurrah.

But, where's the AI again? Next...

More Tires?

[maz2331]

And how many more tires full of petrol are Brits going to put on these things every week?

They seem to be burning them up pretty regularly over there.

It's truly amazing...

[TaleSpinner]

...what you can accomplish against a population under constant surveillance and no human rights left at all. Consider:
http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/03/16/1730221
http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/09/20/2318220
http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/03/27/1457253
http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/02/20/1344200
http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/03/10/1846241
http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/11/04/1750246
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article-23412867-details/Tens+of+thousands+of+CCTV+cameras%2C+yet+80%25+of+crime+unsolved/article.do

and, my personal favorite:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/6524495.stm

Oh, I'm sure the UK government has the very best of intentions. We all know what is paved with those. And the UK has already arrived.

Re:Ninjas

[cayenne8]

I wonder if while the cameras are first deployed, if everyone does "Silly Walks" for weeks...it will really fsck up the AI on the cameras? I'd have to think that after a week or so of them trained that way....they'd have so many false positives on 'normal' people going about their way, they'd just chuck the whole thing in the trash can.

Someone over there try to remember this if they try to implement it....

Re:Easy to subvert.

[Anonymous Coward]

Wouldn't it be much smarter just not to commit crimes near cameras?

I think you'll find it quite impossible to do anything in the UK without being near a camera. Destroying the cameras would be a quite futile endeavor because they have you heavily outnumbered.

You're hired!

[Wowsers]

What happens instead of AI-CCTV, they actually hire police with REAL intelligence? Or is the notion of police officer with intelligence clearly nuts?

Re:Ninjas

[mdwh2]

Oh that's easy, here in the UK the police just stop people from dressing as ninjas [cambridge-news.co.uk].