Prison Sentence and the Challenges of Contemporary Technological Development

Having in mind the fact that technological development affects all spheres of life, including enforcement of prison sentence, the author analyses the ways in which it shapes modern penitentiary systems, not only in the context of security and surveillance, but also for the purpose of education and resocialisation of convicted persons and the improvement of prisons’ moral and social climate and living conditions. The author highlights the indisputable contribution of contemporary information-communication technologies to the maintenance of contact between convicted persons and their families (which is essential for the mitigation of prison deprivations), alongside with a certain level of scepticism of the community caused by the fear of their potential misuse. Moreover, the author discusses in which way and with what purpose are new technologies applied in numerous penitentiary institutions, as well as the risks emerging from the efforts to gradually replace prison staff by these technologies in diverse segments of prison life. Special attention is dedicated to the challenges of the use of artificial intelligence for the performance of several tasks related to prison sentence enforcement including risk assessment, designing resocialisation programs, supervision and prevention of prohibited, dangerous and harmful behaviour, education and professional training of convicted persons and their preparation for social reintegration. Lastly, the author draws attention to some ethical and legal dilemmas related to the use of artificial intelligence in prisons, suggesting the need to be particularly cautious in order to preserve human rights in that context, particularly the right to privacy.