Queensland’s artificial intelligence-powered Camera Detected Offenses program has been brought back into the workshop to test the electronic eye.
Queensland’s Transport and Main Roads Minister Mark Bailey has apologized for the screw-up that will now roll out so-called smart cameras in other states, affecting mobile phone use and people not wearing seatbelts. Friday to affected drivers.
“Simply put – this should never have happened. I apologize to everyone who was affected by this. “My department is receiving urgent legal advice regarding the speedy re-issuance of wrongfully suspended licences,” said Bailey.
“For the remaining license holders who have retained their license but lost some points wrongly, Transport and Main Roads will refund the wrongly issued double demerit points.”
At the same time, Bailey has launched an immediate independent review of the program after Queensland officials alleged a “design fault” in the detection system “wrongly applied double demerit points to drivers for passenger seat belt offenses captured by cameras”. Between 1 November 2021 and 31 August 2023.”
The official estimate of the “total number of consumers affected” is 1,842, of which 42 never actually obtained a license. However, the total figure is likely to rise as Queensland Transport and Main Roads qualified the figure by saying it was “based on an initial review of data from traffic and major roads”.
The use of AI to power detection software for imagery captured by cameras was once paraded as a giant leap forward in the efficiency and accuracy of investigative systems.
“The cameras use artificial intelligence (AI) software to filter images and detect possible mobile phone use by the driver or non-wearing of seatbelts by the driver and front seat passenger. If no potential crime is detected, the AI automatically excludes the image from any further analysis and the images are deleted,” the Queensland government explained about the cameras.
“If the AI suspects a potential crime, the image is sent to the Queensland Revenue Office to determine if a crime has been committed.”
Access and review bring to light obvious faults after people pay fines and go to court to fight them. The Queensland government will now face questions over how long it knew about the fault and still allowed drivers to be fined in error.
The bogus penalty fiasco is not the first controversy generated by an AI-powered system. Privacy advocates have warned that there could be legal issues with public servants viewing potentially revealing and candid snaps.
Phones and seat belt cameras are being rolled out in most states, and Queensland has proven a cash cow, generating $160 million in its first year of operation.
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