Understanding public attitudes towards the use of AI in policing

Project Summary

Debate around artificial intelligence (AI) has become more prominent and more polarised in recent years, and yet the technology and its implications remain little understood by the wider public (Ada Lovelace Institute and Alan Turing Institute, 2023). At the same time, services are finding increasing uses for fast-developing AI technologies in their work.

The Home Office is embarking on a public dialogue to understand public perceptions and attitudes towards the use of AI in policing. AI has great potential for improving policing’s ability to prevent, detect and investigate crime, but comes with public concerns including the use of personal data, the potential for automated decision making, and bias from unrepresentative data used in algorithms. Meanwhile, the views of those most affected and the wider public are poorly understood. In  line with the principle of policing by consent, any policy changes and investments in this area must have the support of the public if they are to succeed. 

The project aims to address an evidence gap in understanding levels of public confidence in the use of AI tools in policing beyond facial recognition, the focus of much of the existing evidence base. The dialogue will empower around 60 members of the public to come together to learn about and discuss some of the key issues surrounding the use of AI in policing. They will explore a range of scenarios on how the police service might use AI tools, and make recommendations which reflect what they think makes for effective, fair and safe use of these tools. The workshops will take place in early 2025, in multiple locations across England and Wales. The priorities for the discussion during the workshops will be informed by a public attitudes survey which will run in late 2024. 

Findings from the dialogue will inform central government policy regarding police use of AI technologies and support Chief Constables and Police and Crime Commissioners to make informed decisions about their use of AI tools.

The public dialogue will be overseen by the Home Office in partnership with UK Research and Innovation’s (UKRI’s) Sciencewise Programme. The project will be delivered by Thinks Insight and Strategy and evaluated by Sophie Reid.