Thames Valley PCC urges people to use ‘common sense’ around AI smart glasses
Matthew Barber says people should apply the same caution with these as they do with smartphones
The Police and Crime Commissioner for Thames Valley says people should be "sensibly cautious" around AI smart glasses.
The devices, which can be in the form of regular glass or sunglasses, use built-in artificial intelligence, allowing people to speak to an AI assistant, listen to music, hear phone calls hands-free and even take photos or videos from their view.
However, they have sparked concerns around privacy due to their capability to film people without consent.
New technology, existing crimes
PCC Matthew Barber said many of the precautions people should take around the devices are the same as those they would take with technology that has been around for years.
"For a generation now been walking around with a miniature camera attached to our phones," he said.
"There are lots of other small camera devices that are out there. So I think we need to be really careful not to simply try to outlaw one particular device as a solution to this."
Mr Barber said people should be careful about who they meet and engage with, both online and in the real world.
But he added: “I don't think that means we should suddenly become suspicious of everybody out there. There's just some good common sense that probably needs to be applied.”
He said the bigger issue was the behaviour of people using technology to commit crimes.
There have been reports of smart glasses being used for malicious purposes, including by sexual predators, as well as their potential use in activities such as hostile reconnaissance.
Mr Barber said he was not aware of any cases involving Thames Valley Police specifically, but says they are seeing "great concern" about the use of the technology.
What about policing?
The PCC says police forces must continue to adapt as technology develops.
“We need to make sure that our police officers who are dealing with these cases are fully up to date with the sorts of technology out there to understand how people will perhaps use new technology to commit old crimes,” Mr Barber said
He added that while policing tactics can evolve relatively quickly, legislation can take longer to catch up.
That could potentially mean new offences being created in the future, although Mr Barber said existing offences, such as voyeurism, may already be applicable in some circumstances.
Mr Barber said the issue of AI smart glasses forms part of a much wider challenge around artificial intelligence, which he believes could bring significant benefits to policing while also creating new risks.
He said his priority is to explore how AI can be safely used to help police catch criminals and cut crime, while protecting the security and integrity of police data.