Argentina’s Security Ministry has launched an artificial intelligence unit that it says will “predict future crimes and help prevent them.”

The announcement has been described as a real-life version of Minority Report, the 2002 Steven Spielberg film about a futuristic policing unit that detains criminals before a crime has been committed. It has also raised concerns about state surveillance, the social biases AI often reflects, and the societal tendency to significantly overestimate the powers of products caught in the latest tech gold rush.

The AI unit’s launch comes as the government says it wants to make Argentina an “AI hub.” Meanwhile, Congress is only starting to discuss the implications of the technology — and how the country might regulate it.

The new unit will use AI to patrol social media, the internet, the dark web, apps, and security camera footage, according to the resolution published in the official gazette on July 26. Signed by Security Minister Patricia Bullrich, the resolution states that the unit will use machine learning algorithms to analyze historical crime data, so it can “predict future crimes and help prevent them.” It also plans to fly surveillance drones and use AI to........

© Buenos Aires Herald