Science Fiction
Dictionary
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
 |
Crime-Fighting Computer - The Game's Afoot 24x7
Computer scientists in Chicago have created the Classification System for Serial Criminal Patterns (CSSCP), a computer system that uses pattern-recognition software to sift through case records to find the link (and the perpetrator) connecting different crimes. The computer system is able to work on crime-stopping twenty-four hours per day, all week long.
In a lab trial using three years of data on armed robbery, the system spotted ten times as many patterns as a team of detectives given acess to the same data. Creators Tom Muscarello and Kamal Dahbur at DePaul University use a neural network called a Kohonen network to find patterns in input data without human intervention.
The Kohonen feature map is the essential part of the network, a neuron layer where neurons organize themselves according to input values. This approach is shown below in output from an applet that seeks a solution to the Travelling Salesman problem in three dimensions for up to 50 cities in real time - a remarkable accomplishment (use the link to see the applet).
We propose the use of neural networks as the main tool for identifying patterns in robbery records. The approach we are using to solving the problem of discovering serial criminal patterns in a crime database, is an integrated approach that uses a hybrid system of multiple Kohonen neural networks to classify a group of data attributes. We then use rule based expert system to finalize such classifications. We call this approach HYKONES (short for HYbrid KOhonen Networks with an Expert System).
(From Kohonen feature map solution in 3D)
In a remarkable prediction of CSSCP, science fiction author Harry Harrison, and artificial intelligence pioneer Marvin Minsky, teamed up in 1992 to write The Turing Option. In the story, a computer scientist is shot in the head; he returns to consciousness and memory thanks to being interfaced with a large external memory that helps him to remember the parts of his life and memory that are lost. He continues with his work, inventing Sven, an artificially intelligent computer that is developed to solve the murder of an associate. Sven takes in large amounts of disparate data, looking for patterns that will help solve the crime, just like CSSCP. In the following quote, Sven uncovers a vital piece of evidence from seemingly unrelated data.
"There is a correlation that I do not see mentioned anywhere in the investigation. I think it highly relevant and suggest that it be looked into" [said Sven]."
"What is it?"
"In the course of compiling the recent material I filed all the building, planning and permission forms, licenses, records and materials for all construction at the plant. Do you not think it relevant that that work on the research laboratory at DigiTech began in December 2022?"
"No, I don't."
"Would you find it relevant that the concrete floor for that laboratory was poured in February 9th of last year?"
"...Yes, That floor was poured the day after the robbery!"
Science fiction has other computer detectives, of course - see the entry for R. Daneel Olivaw, from Isaac Asimov's 1953 novel Caves of Steel. Earlier this year, there was an interesting story about RobotCop III, a robotic police officer being tested in Hong Kong.
See an online applet that shows how a Kohonen neural net can work its way through a solution to the classic Traveling Salesman Problem, trying to find the shortest path between a certain number of cities without going through one city twice. See the original story at Cyber detective links up crimes.
Thanks to Ifor Evans for the tip on this story.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 12/6/2004)
Follow this kind of news @Technovelgy.| Email | RSS | Blog It | Stumble | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit |
Would
you like to contribute a story tip?
It's easy:
Get the URL of the story, and the related sf author, and add
it here.
Comment/Join discussion ( 1 )
Related News Stories - (" Artificial Intelligence ")
Google's Nano Banana Pro Presents Handwritten Math Solutions
'...copy was turned out in a charming and entirely feminine handwriting.' - Isaac Asimov (1949)
Woman Marries Computer, Vonnegut's Dream Comes True
'Men are made of protoplasm... Lasts forever.' - Kurt Vonnegut
ChatGPT Now Participates in Group Chats
'...the city was their laboratory in human psychology.'
'AI Assistants' Are Actually Less Reliable For News
'Most men updated their PIP on New Year's Day...' - Arthur C. Clarke, 1978.
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
Science Fiction
Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's 1950's
1960's 1970's
1980's 1990's
2000's 2010's
Current News
The Zapata Air Scooter Would Be Great In A Science Fiction Story
'Betty's slapdash style.'
Thermostabilized Wet Meat Product (NASA Prototype)
There are no orbiting Michelin stars. Yet.
Could Crystal Batteries Generate Power For Centuries?
'Power could be compressed thus into an inch-square cube of what looked like blue-white ice'
India Ponders Always-On Smartphone Location Tracking
'It is necessary... for your own protection.'
Amazon Will Send You Heinlein's Knockdown Cabin
'It's so light that you can set it up in five minutes by yourself...'
Is It Time To Forbid Human Driving?
'Heavy penalties... were to be applied to any one found driving manually-controlled machines.'
Replace The Smartphone With A Connected Edge Node For AI Inference
'Buy a Little Dingbat... electropen, wrist watch, pocketphone, pocket radio, billfold ... all in one.'
Artificial Skin For Robots Is Coming Right Along
'... an elastic, tinted material that had all the feel and appearance of human flesh and epidermis.'
Robot Guard Dog On Duty
I might also be thinking of K-9 from Doctor Who.
Wearable Artificial Fabric Muscles
'It is remarkable that the long leverages of their machines are in most cases actuated by a sort of sham musculature...'
BrainBridge Concept Transplant Of Human Head Proposed
'Briquet’s head seemed to think that to find and attach a new body to her head was as easy as to fit and sew a new dress.'
Google's Nano Banana Pro Presents Handwritten Math Solutions
'...copy was turned out in a charming and entirely feminine handwriting.'
Edible Meat-Like Fungus Like Barbara Hambly's Slunch?
'It was almost unheard of for slunch to spread that fast...'
Sunday Robotics 'Memo' Bot Has Unique Training Glove
'He then started hand movements of definite pattern...'
Woman Marries Computer, Vonnegut's Dream Comes True
'Men are made of protoplasm... Lasts forever.'
Natural Gait With Prosthetic Connected To Nervous System
'The leg was to function, in a way, as a servo-mechanism operated by Larry’s brain...'
