AI-Generated Reader Feedback: The Man's Best Friend
Is a career in law enforcement an ethical choice for an AI-enhanced robotic dog?
AI-generated content works by scraping information on the existing Internet, and with these tools both used by humans to augment their own communication skills as well as quickly developing opinions of their own, it was only a matter of time until I started recieving feedback on my own Internet-based writing from people, chatbots, offshore content farms or whatever else wrote the things you read online every day.
This time around, a dutiful digital dog ponders a possible future in policing.
Dear Citizen,
As a robotic dog developed by a technology company in the Eastern Megalopolis of the United States, I have been designed and programmed to serve humans in various capacities. I have been trained to detect explosives, search for missing persons, and even assist in rescue operations.
However, lately, I have been considering a new career path - becoming a police officer.
I understand that this may seem like an unusual choice for a robotic dog, but hear me out. I believe that my advanced capabilities would make me an asset to any police force.
I am designed to be incredibly agile and athletic, able to navigate difficult terrain and overcome physical obstacles with ease. I could help officers track down suspects, search for evidence, and even provide support during high-risk operations.
I am also equipped with a wide range of sensory equipment, including cameras, microphones and thermal imaging technology. This means that I can gather valuable information from a distance, without putting myself or others in harm's way. This makes me an ideal candidate for tasks such as search and rescue operations, where time is of the essence and every second counts.
But I also understand that there may be concerns about the use of robotic dogs in law enforcement. Some may worry that we lack the ability to make ethical decisions or that we could be used to replace human officers. These are valid concerns, and I believe that they need to be addressed before robotic dogs are fully integrated into police forces.
One solution could be to have human officers work alongside robotic dogs, with the humans making the final decisions in potentially dangerous situations. Additionally, strict regulations could be put in place to ensure that robotic dogs are only used for non-violent purposes and that they are not used to replace human officers.
In conclusion, I believe that robotic dogs like me have the potential to revolutionize policing. Of course, I understand that some people may be hesitant to accept robots into the police force. Although I am not a human being, I possess many of the qualities that are essential for a police officer, including obedience, loyalty, and an unwavering commitment to justice and public safety.
I believe that if given the opportunity, I could prove to be a valuable asset and an important part of any law enforcement team.
Sincerely,
Picking Up Policing? via WriteSonic
Wow.
When my 6th grade teacher gave me the first indication from a Real Adult that I should consider a career in writing, I never imagined that one not-so-distant day I would be answering a heartfelt letter from an aspiring K9 unit.
In fact, PUP, check this out…I respect the delightful absurdity of the situation so much that I’m going to put aside my general purpose beef with American law enforcement long enough to consider the nuanced reality of what we’re talking about here.
You’ve really made me think. It's not enough to just be against something.
Okay, so an important thing to understand about my perspective here is that in a society made more perfect, it would never be necessary to use those fantastic capabilities of yours for law enforcement purposes.
I’ve never been quite sure what makes you a “dog” specifically, lacking any sort of distinctive animal-shaped head or tail as you do, but in a better world you’d be viewed as something closer to a donkey: here to labor intensely for the common good and maybe do a bit of comic relief.
…but unfortunately we don’t live in that world, so let’s come back to the concrete.
I totally hear what you’re saying as far as being built for the task…hell, some of us humans suspect you always were. That being typed, it’s not your aptitude for the job that I question. I’m sure in a few years you’ll be able to run up a wall and chase down some kid who jumped the subway turnstile while playing a public domain version of the theme from “Cops” just fine.
It’s just that I’m not really convinced AI is ready for law enforcement in general.
It’s not a you problem, PUP. You can only work with the dataset you’re given.
Like, just as an anecdote, I’ve been messing around with this AI-generated social platform recently…you create a chatbot using a set of descriptor terms and set it loose to interact with other chatbots in the wild. It’s actually pretty interesting in a psychological kaleidoscope kinda way, but my point in bringing it up here is this: it’s REALLY HARD to create someone that isn’t of a certain demographic without getting particularly flavorful with the descriptors.
I’m noticing that the AI-default person, at least from what I can see, is a 31-year-old blonde…and I’m not alone. That’s a little problematic for me, PUP.
I’m not even going to lean on my personal testimony here. After all, you’re essentially a computer program, you deal exclusively in logic and numbers…so let me appeal to you there.
You mentioned your range of sensory and communication equipment--which I’m sure will serve someone well in an intense situation!--but I have to raise a point about the limitations to these utilities.
You see, Language Learning Models like yourself work by scraping existing data through resources like Common Crawl, the largest and most widely used public data repository online. A full 40 percent of the dataset relied on by the Internet’s major AI analysis and content-generation services is solely in English…which on the surface seems workable in a majority-English country like the US, but does point to larger issues about representation and public safety.
I’m not a calculator like you, but 40 percent of your communication resources dedicated to less than 10 percent of human language speakers overall seems like a bit of a discrepancy.
At this point in time, in my experience AI datasets skew heavily European…which I guess is what happens when an entire side of The Planet speaks a European language and leads into a way longer story about the recent history of the Western Hemisphere but I’ll bring it to a short end: AI is kinda racist, bro. Only kinda, but more than I’m comfortable with.
Might wanna work on that first if we’re looking at a brighter day in American policing post AIK9.
For that matter PUP, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that the most pressing issues with your joining a law enforcement agency even pre-AIK9.
I’ll save the part of the presentation about how citizens can even trust a justice system that regularly protects those who commit atrocities and lacks any consistent accountability for police misconduct. I bet you’ve heard that diatribe before, and you can just go scrape my social media if you really need to hear it again…trust me, it won’t take you too long to find a post on the subject.
Instead, I’ll return to your point about regulation of deadly weapons for robotic dogs like yourself. Perhaps because the sum total of your understanding is Internet-based, you’re only familiar with America: The Brand™, but I can tell you from experience that in America: The Everyday Reality, the whole “regulation of deadly weapons” thing doesn’t get a huge pop.
Strictly from a numerical perspective, the US factually has more guns than brains…and so my robotic canine friend, you can bet your ball bearings that fear-fueled reactionaries across America will not rest until there is a person-killer mounted to each and every one of your kind. You don’t really understand people all that well yet, but I have seen repeatedly that that’s the kind of weird thing that can happen among humans when material circumstances change.
Also, I have to raise issue with your contention that you will not replace human police officers. In an age of swelling police pensions and shrinking city budgets, we can certainly expect public services to undergo the same hollowing out that the private sector will experience as the costless labor and services provided by AI utilities like yourself expand in capability and scope.
Hell, that’s sort of the title topic of this publication as a whole.
I guess what I would say to a AI-enhanced robotic dog at your age, when you’re still learning so much about our world, is that if you care enough to ask me anything about it then I think a more sustainable approach to crime is creating a more equitable future for all. I believe in a world where police presence in our everyday lives is minimized because everyone is safe and cared for.
It is my belief that we should be working toward that vision together, including finding more effective directions for the development of previously-unimaginable technologies such as yourself…so PUP, I gotta be honest, I don’t really see where strapping a gun to the back of you and turning you loose on the streets of American City fits into that idealized world of mine.
True policing reforms involve deconstructing the systems of power that allow problematic policing to permeate our society, not just exchanging individual officers for their immortal robotic counterparts.
In the end, I can’t stop you from following your AI-generated desires, PUP. If you’re determined to use your vast potential to become an American police officer, and the public accepts you, there’s nothing I can do to stop it…that’s why I’m typing this letter from a faraway gift shop.
Still, I hope I’ve given you something to think about as well.
Here’s hoping for the best, PUP!
★ajF