AI Police Cameras Spot Thousands Of Distracted Drivers, But Opens Pandoras Box

According to South Lake Minnetonka Police in Minnesota, it detected over 10,000 distracted driving violations on one highway in February using AI-infused camera systems to work out what’s going on inside cars while they move. Sgt. Adam Moore told The Minnesota Star Tribune that it led to 300 warnings or citations being issued. The system uses four infrared cameras on a portable trailer and when it detects a violation, it sends a photo of the vehicle and plate to police within five seconds, so officers can initiate a traffic stop. Over 10,000 violations on one piece of road is overwhelming for a police department, hence the deficit between violations detected and warnings or citations given.

An Australian Solution To A Global Problem

The cameras are built by an Australian company called Acusensus, and paid for by a state grant of over $400,000. Acusensus was started by Alexander Jannink and Ravin Mirchandani after Jannink’s friend was killed by an allegedly drunk driver on their phone. The company’s technology is also used in Canada and the United Kingdom, and no doubt won’t be the last company creating an AI solution for distracted driving.

Unlike most cameras around the world that detect speed, the Acusensus system doesn’t automatically send out a ticket to the car’s owners. According to Sargeant Moore via CBS News, he understands privacy concerns and assures that the photos are deleted within 15 minutes if they are not used. However, that’s not something people will, rightly, trust as the technology spreads and gets more sophisticated.

Enter The Police State

While we understand, and assume you also understand, that distracted driving is an incredibly big problem and kills people every day. It’s impossible to overstate the size of the problem, and it’s highlighted by how few people have been warned or cited on one piece of road versus how many violations are detected. It won’t be long before the system is automated as, like all traffic violations, there simply aren’t enough police officers to enforce the wealth of laws and the wealth of laws broken every day. Once a system is automated, it can then be adapted for more purposes – like how traffic cameras in the US in many cities use automated license plate-recognizing software and can track a car. This software is also on parking enforcement and police cars, and that’s where the Acusensus system is headed.

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This Is A Conversation We, As A Society, Need To Have

Meld this all together, add facial recognition, and you have government agencies able to track cars and tell who is inside the car and what they are doing. On the positive side, if someone borrows your car and texts while driving, they can get the ticket, and, in general, lives can be saved. On the downside, that’s a huge amount of data that can be collated and filed, and data is one of the most valuable commodities in the world. There’s also the possibility of false flags as cars are imbued with hands-free driving technology, like the Cadillac Escalade with Super Cruise.

In the hands of government, data can be used for control, and we already know this – as of now, in the US, according to the Governors Highway Safety Association, nine states have prohibited the use of speed cameras and eight states prohibit the use of red-light cameras.

Sources: The Minnesota Star Tribune, CBS News, Governors Highway Safety Association