(by Kelly McDonald, Jr) Scientists claim that artificial intelligence (AI) and brain scanning can be used to tell if someone is guilty of breaking the law. A recent study at Virginia Tech showed that this combination was able to predict those who were guilty in a mock-trial. Other such cases have come to similar conclusions. A 2013 study in Albuquerque, New Mexico was conducted among 96 male prisoners who were scheduled to be released. They subsequently followed them for four years. Those with a low level of activity in the frontal lobe, where decision making occurs, were found more likely to be arrested a second time.
The use of this technology does bring up ethical/moral issues. Could the brain scans or AI be manipulated in a way to make an innocent person guilty or vice versa? Also, under what conditions could this technology be wrong? Whether or not this technology will be admissible in court has yet to be determined, but it is an expanding field of study.
