Could a Computer Judge My Crime?
CrowdScience
BBC
4.8 • 1K Ratings
🗓️ 21 July 2017
⏱️ 28 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
People said they’d never catch on. Mobile phones, the internet and even robot assembly lines all once seemed like niche technologies. But today they are at the heart of the modern world.
But just how far can technology go? Could machines start to compete with humans in making complex and life-changing decisions, like those made by lawyers and judges? That’s what CrowdScience listener Zackery Snaidman from Orlando in the US wants to know and presenter Marnie Chesterton has set out to find answers.
She starts at a hackathon in London, where she witnesses the birth and design of the UK’s new online court. And in Uganda, she hears how technology and social media is filling a crucial gap left by a shortage of human lawyers. Marnie is also surprised to discover a simple algorithm that regularly out-performs human judges in making bail decisions.
But could technology bring as many problems as it solves? Could seemingly ‘unbiased’ computers hide the prejudices of their makers? And more fundamentally: With our future liberty at stake, is the world ready to leave their fate in the hands of machines?
Do you have a question we can turn into a programme? Email us at crowdscience@bbc.co.uk
Presenter: Marnie Chesterton Producer: Anna Lacey
(Image: Digitized Lady Justice. Credit: Getty Images)
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | You're about to listen to a BBC podcast and maybe it's when I had a hand in. |
| 0:04.0 | I'm Tammy Walker and I produce podcasts for the BBC. |
| 0:08.0 | My role is to give new and diverse creators a voice with the opportunity to build a career. |
| 0:12.0 | That's the thing I love about podcasts. |
| 0:14.4 | You start with just a good idea, but then you have the space to see where it goes. |
| 0:18.4 | And doing that at the BBC means we can really run with the best stories |
| 0:21.9 | while developing the most unique audio talent. |
| 0:24.8 | So if you like what you hear, why not check out the huge range of podcast we've got on BBC Sounds? This looks like a cathedral to the law. |
| 0:37.0 | It does, you're right. The Victorians never stinted on the money they're spent on their public buildings |
| 0:46.6 | So this is a very grand building. What do you do here? Well, I sit on cases and make sure they're heard fairly in accordance with the law. |
| 0:57.0 | I'm Marnie Chesterton and you're listening to crowd science on the BBC World Service, |
| 1:02.0 | the program that takes your questions and turns them into answers. |
| 1:06.1 | This week we're coming to you from the heart of the UK justice system, complete with spectacular |
| 1:11.7 | vaulted ceilings, marble floors floors and of course wigs. |
| 1:15.0 | And who better to show us round than one of the UK's High Court judges, |
| 1:20.0 | Mrs Justice Juliet May. |
| 1:27.0 | So Judge, where are we? We are in the main hall of the Royal Courts of Justice |
| 1:31.0 | on the Strand in London. |
| 1:33.0 | This place is essentially your office. |
| 1:35.0 | It's extraordinary. |
| 1:37.0 | Well, it's not just my office. |
| 1:39.0 | There are well over 200 judges here and in the associated buildings along with just |
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