Crime-predicting AI cameras to be installed in Korea

By on 08/01/2020 | Updated on 24/09/2020
The Seocho District of Seoul will see 3,000 crime-detecting cameras installed on its streets. (Photo by Scott Webb/Pexels).

Surveillance cameras equipped with artificial intelligence (AI) software supposedly capable of detecting and predicting crime are to be installed on the streets of South Korean capital Seoul.

The government, which is working with the Electronics Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI) on the project, says 3,000 cameras will be installed in the Seocho District of Seoul by July. The cameras will utilise AI to process location, time and citizens’ behaviour patterns to assess the likelihood of crimes taking place.

The software will be able to detect whether passers-by are wearing masks or carrying with them dangerous objects or potentially suspicious items, such as large bags, and could determine whether someone is being followed. In addition, the Seocho District of Seoul and ETRI are planning to analyse 20,000 court sentencing documents and crime footage to train the AI software, with the aim of allowing it to determine whether what is being filmed matches past crime patterns. An ETRI spokesperson told ZDNet that “it will work like déjà vu”.

If the software’s algorithms detect a certain probability of crime, an alert will be sent to the district office and nearby police stations, which will dispatch officers to the location.

According to the ETRI, the AI software is still in development but is expected to be completed soon, ready for the cameras to be installed in the summer. If successful, additional cameras will be rolled out to other districts of Seoul as well as other provinces in South Korea.

About Mia Hunt

Mia has been editor of globalgovernmentforum.com since 2019. She has 15 years’ experience as a journalist and editor and specialises in writing for civil and public servants worldwide, including covering sustainability policy and related issues. She has led the Global Government Women’s Network since it launched in 2023. Previously, she covered commercial property having been market reports and supplements editor at Property Week and deputy editor at Retail Destination. She graduated from Kingston University London with a first-class honours degree in journalism and was part of the team that produced The River newspaper, which won Publication of the Year at the Guardian Student Media Awards in 2010.

3 Comments

  1. James says:

    Can someone say Minority Report?

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