Criminology and Social Impact in The Age of Artificial Intelligence [AI]

The use of technology has permeated all facets of life, and brought about both positive and negative effects. Criminology as a fields has not been left behind and criminologists are developing various technological tools, including Artificial Intelligence (AI) models to use in detecting, managing and preventing criminal activities. This is a significant step considering that criminals have also found it convenient to use technology as a tool for perpetuating their activities. This paper focused on the adoption of AI in criminology, exploring the attendant benefits of its adoption; the negative social impact of its use and interventions that should be put in place to curb the negative ramification. Some of the beneficial use discussed in the paper include predictive policing, and crime risk assessment, which aids in preventing occurrence of criminal activities. However, the use of these AI models, while beneficial to these criminological functions have presented significant social implications, which include bias and discrimination that perpetuate social stereotypes; privacy breach that lead to the victimization of innocent people; opaque decision making that lead to distrust in the output by the AI tool; and unfair distribution of employment opportunities. The paper concluded that the adoption of AI in criminology is inevitable considering the digital era in which we are currently living in. However, while the benefit of the use of these technologies are varied and welcome, there is a need for ensuring that the legal, social and ethical concerns are adequately addressed. The paper, therefore, recommended the establishment of robust regulatory framework that guide the use of the AI models by law enforcement agencies; the integration of the use of the AI tools with human oversight; the inclusion and transparency and accountability in the operationalization of the tools; collaboration amongst the stakeholders. This paper has used recent extant literature to examine the intersection between criminology and social impact with respect to the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI)