As we pointed out earlier this week, China's lack of data protection laws and its determination to overtake the US as the world-leader in AI technology poses a serious threat to US technological hegemony. As Russian President Vladimir Putin once said, whoever dominates the AI race could one day rule the world.
Well, another advantage that China has in its AI push is its reputation for strict surveillance and law enforcement - which provides for plenty of use-cases where China can test its nascent technology. Case in point: Police in Shenzen are using AI and facial recognition software to install "smart" traffic cameras that can identify and fine Chinese citizens who jaywalk - a crime that is the subject of strict enforcement in China, per the South China Morning Post.
Intellifusion, a Shenzhen-based AI firm that provides the technology is now in talks with local mobile phone carriers and social media platforms such as WeChat and Sina Weibo to develop a system where offenders will receive personal text messages shortly after a violation has occurred, according to Wang Jun, the company’s director of marketing solutions.
"Jaywalking has always been an issue in China and can hardly be resolved just by imposing fines or taking photos of the offenders. But a combination of technology and psychology … can greatly reduce instances of jaywalking and will prevent repeat offences," Wang said.
Shenzhen traffic police began displaying photos of jaywalkers on large LED screens at major intersections starting in April 2017. Meanwhile, police stationed at the Zhengzhou East high-speed rail station in Henan province have been equipped with smart glasses with facial recognition software that can identify wanted criminals.
For the current system installed in Shenzhen, Intellifusion installed cameras with 7 million pixels of resolution to capture photos of pedestrians crossing the road against traffic lights. Facial recognition technology identifies the individual from a database and displays a photo of the jaywalking offence, the family name of the offender and part of their government identification number on large LED screens above the pavement.
Nearly 14,000 jaywalkers have been cited since Of course, Shenzen isn't even the most advanced Chinese city in terms of its use of AI for law-enforcement purposes. In Beijing, police are using the world's first surround-body camera with built in facial recognition technology to hold scofflaws accountable.
In what appears to be an effort to shame lawbreakers, police launched a webpage in March displaying photos, names and partial ID numbers of jaywalkers.
Police say these measures have reduced the number of repeat offenders. Informing violators via text message would help the city save on construction of large LED screens, which have been used elsewhere in China for shaming purposes.
However, there's one notable caveat. Shenzhen has one of the most transient populations in China. As a result, many people do not have their information registered in the database of the traffic police, even though anyone staying in the city for more than 30 days is required to do so. That means authorities can only currently identify about 10% of the population.
Ultimately, these surveillance methods will be used to build out China's system of "social credit" - the Communist Party's plan to assign a "score" to every Chinese citizen - as authorities aim for "behavior modification on a massive scale."
For the average Chinese citizen, this system closely resembles the nightmarish totalitarian dystopia described by George Orwell in his classic novel "1984".
When a woman walked to work this month in the bustling Southern Chinese metropolis of Shenzhen, she, like many millions of other Chinese, jaywalked, cutting across a side street to avoid a detour of hundreds of yards to a crosswalk. What happened next, as documented by the woman, a writer calling herself Mao Yan, was an illustration of a brave new world being born in China.
Two traffic policemen approached the woman and told her that she had violated the traffic regulations of the People’s Republic of China. Eager to get to her job, Mao Yan apologized and pointed out that there was no fencing to block jaywalkers like her. She hoped to get off with a verbal warning. The officers, however, were intent on prosecution. They demanded her identity card, which is issued to all Chinese citizens. When Mao Yan said that she had not brought hers, they asked for her ID number. When she said she had not memorized it, one officer snapped her picture with a camera phone. Seconds later he read out her name, her ID card number and date of birth. Using facial recognition technology, he had identified Mao Yan.
Yan said she was taken aback by the experience. Later, WaPo noted that these surveillance technologies are being used in Western provinces to crack down on separatist movements.
"It's intimidation to make everyone afraid," she said in a social media post she published after her encounter.
The post was swiftly taken down by China's censors.
Comments
That must be some smart technology, coz they all look the same to me
if gun ownership doesn't become a global trend .. kiss your ass goodbye. some psychopath is about own you all.. I hope he's nice. then god arrives in the form of AI. good luck
In reply to That's some smart technology… by ukspreads
China's crackdown is MILD compared to when APARTHEID Israhell does it.
WARNING: Graphic Images
In reply to if gun ownership doesn't… by ThePhantom
Long Groucho nose glasses.
In reply to China's crackdown is MILD… by beepbop
And dock their "social credit" score too.
In the USA, the main beneficiaries of government surveillance cameras and license plate readers connected to massive databases and AI processing are Obama, Holder, Lynch, Soros, Susan Rice, Comey, Clapper, McCabe, Powers, Biden, you know the types. Makes it awful hard to take them out and escape detection.
In reply to Long Groucho nose glasses. by DownWithYogaPants
Uber already has jaywalking covered. China lagging on this.
In reply to China's crackdown is MILD… by beepbop
Is Russia/Soviet Union still doing shit like this? Pretty sure they must be.
In reply to Uber already has jaywalking… by freedogger
With national ID cards I bet China does not have an illegal immigration problem.
In reply to Is Russia/SovietUnion still… by bluecollartrader
China does - from Vietnam, Burma, North Korea, Indonesia, the Philippines, and even some African countries.
In reply to With national ID cards I bet… by zaphod
good. bring this shit to Vancouver, too... nothing worse than retards trying to cross the street downtown after the 'do not cross' hand countdown begins. hey retard that hand is an open palm forward, not a beckon.
knowing vancity tho they'll use it to somehow further tax drivers and build more bike lanes that no one uses.
In reply to That's some smart technology… by ukspreads
"Jaywalking has always been an issue in China"
When AI takes over China nobody will notice any difference. They're already a bunch of fucking robots.
In reply to That's some smart technology… by ukspreads
next britan...then
http://i.4cdn.org/pol/1522274945296.png
In reply to "Jaywalking has always been… by NoDebt
Jaywalking is not a crime in the UK.
Jaywalking should not be prohibited to protect the pedestrian, who should be free to risk their life and limb.
There is an argument to ban jaywalking to maintain traffic flow. For example, I imagine that there are so many pedestrians in large Chinese cities, that if they all decided to jaywalk together in a continuous flow, the vehicles would be stop and traffic would be gridlocked for large parts of the day.
However, I would take this as a sign that more streets in that area need to be pedestrianized, rather than outlaw crossing the street - make laws that favor pedestrians and cyclists, rather than cars.
In reply to next britan...then… by WillyGroper
NoDebt said: "When AI takes over China nobody will notice any difference. They're already a bunch of fucking robots.
Unarmed robots. I had a lady friend Chinese visitor helping me unpack and sort out some stuff last year that I hadn't gotten around to unpacking yet. Her eyes got very big and she almost freaked out over my collection of knives of various sorts (mostly hunting knives, but also some unusual ones such as Kukris and Katanas).
I didn't have the heart to tell her that all the padlocked trunks, toolboxes, and other locked containers surrounding her were full of guns and ammo.
In reply to "Jaywalking has always been… by NoDebt
When a friend visited from China, the first thing I did was take him to a gun shop. Wish I had a camera to record his bulging eyes! Lesson...Free people own guns, slaves don't!
In reply to Unarmed robots. I had a lady… by TheEndIsNear
Maybe you should redirect your stare one ft higher to tell the difference.
In reply to That's some smart technology… by ukspreads
Hold on, not even Apple's facial recognition works on the Chinee, the end is here boys, I knew it!
Ho Li Phuk. Not a world I want to live in. Thank fuck I'll be dead soon.
Oh how wonderful. A computerized version of Mao that never dies.
Miffed
+1000
You win the internet. Al Gore will be jetting into your back yard trailing a plume of smoke like the Wicked Witch to give you your award.
In reply to Oh how wonderful. A… by Miffed Microbi…
No, you ignorant babbler.
Under Mao, those stupid, lunatic teenage Red Guards were marching in the streets, jaywalking in formation, while shouting slogans.
In reply to Oh how wonderful. A… by Miffed Microbi…
"stupid, lunatic teenage Red Guards were marching in the streets, jaywalking in formation, while shouting slogans."
We have the same problem in the USSA.
In reply to No, you ignorant babbler… by napper
Those dirty, rotten commies. J-walking is our God-given right. So are P-walking, C-walking, D-walking, and N-walking.
I wonder what the penalty is for pouring grease down the trash compactor...
Good luck with that.
I heard (from a Chinese) that the actual population of major cities in China is twice as big as officially reported. This because many Chinese showed the middle finger towards the State for their "one child per couple" policy
Not true at all. Why don't you go there and see for yourself instead of believing (at best) third hand rumors from other people who have never been near China?
In reply to Good luck with that… by Troy Ounce
Is it the jaywalkers that are the problem or the drivers? Because I've seen a ton of just insane chinese driving videos. One bus driver stops ON the people at the bus stop.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Z2Xaj4d5Ag&t=
There is no video at the link you provided, only an audio talk show.
In reply to Is it the jaywalkers that… by StheNine
Well how is this any different from cameras taking automatic photos of people running red lights and then mailing them the ticket?
reading your face vs a series of numbers clearly written... rather big deal. long big hats and panty hose... and or silicone masks.. and their makers. where there's a will there is a way.. fuck the slavers
In reply to Well how is this any… by GodSpeed_00
Long on aluminum foil burhkas!
In reply to reading your face vs a… by ThePhantom
It's not-they just test this stuff over there first. China is nwo dream state.
In reply to Well how is this any… by GodSpeed_00
Bingo. This whole nonsense that it requires AI to do facial recognition is just that...nonsense. You can set up cameras anywhere with defined parameters as to when or when not to trigger some action. In this case it is referencing the photo against a database. Nothing AI about it.
In reply to Well how is this any… by GodSpeed_00
how long before they start fighting back? and organize a Resistance?
???
The Jaywalker Rebellion?!
In reply to how long before they start… by ThePhantom
Without guns? THAT would be a LONG March!
In reply to how long before they start… by ThePhantom
China: where you can wok your dog, but you can't dog your walk.
Big brains don't mean the most intelligent. Any size brain is useless if you don't use it.
You play the drums?
Just kidding. :-)
In reply to Big brains don't mean the… by MusicIsYou
Lol. Ya know, a guitar is a drum with six strings.
In reply to You play the drums? by Yen Cross
I was " just kidding".
First instrument was the Clarinet.
In reply to Lol. Ya know, a guitar is a… by MusicIsYou
They might have bigger brains, but they're still stupid slopes. Getting altered is a 'slippery slope.'
'
'
The global civil war for freedom and liberty is beginning in China with this tech.
It will be a civil skirmish, as first, totalitarian governments seek to find the equilibrium that will not bring the population into the streets, and how far up the food chain the dissent would flow.
But then the creeping expansion will begin, with the governments of our world, broke, will start to utilize this tech to fund their broke treasuries.
Slowly, the fighters, will be picked off, and the sheep left to learn how to be fighters, if they ever will.
Once this technology is upon us, the AI, ASI, AGI, we will never get out from underneath it.
Picture a world of NK, East Germany and Stalinist Russia, the Iron Curtain, on steroids..
We have 3-5 years at most before we start seeing the adoption of this tech in NA.
OJO
V-V
Gay walkers!
"Respect my athoritah. Don't jaywalk."
God we just need a comet to hit earth and kill theses fukers. Just kill them all off.
Article is bullshit. The cost of doing this would be prohibitive. What about visitors and tourists. More clickbait.
Living in a country that is too technology-capable is a curse rather than a blessing nowadays. I moved to a 3rd world country, and I hope this country never progresses technologically. Technology will be used against the population.
There are still places in the USA that don't have all this technological shit. For example, there is not a single traffic light in the entire county where I've moved to.
In reply to Living in a country that is… by Charvo
Yeah, and never will. USA is too big to completely surveil. Hell, we can barely build a bridge anymore
In reply to There are still places in… by TheEndIsNear
Pagination