Following the wave of public concern about police excesses that swept North America in 2020, I find it ironic that Toronto Police Service is looking to another technological solution to expand its reach.

There may be benign uses of artificial intelligence tehcnologies that can legimately be ascribed low or minimal risk.

But any applications that are used to surveil the public or to implement predictive policing are extremely concerning in a free, democratic society.

We know that Black, Indigenous, and racialized groups are already overpoliced - in street checks that criminalize folks for the colour of their skin, in heavy-handed clampdowns on Indigenous land defence actions, in the designation of youth as "at-risk" based on their racial background or community origin. Those inherent biases will only be exacerbated, and given a "scientific" veneer, when they are run through artifical intelligence algorithms. 

AI tools are a step in the wrong direction. Let's come together for community safety, not expanding police powers.