Can AI Catch Criminals at Sea? | Dyhia Belhabib | TED

Summary

The speaker, a scientist and ocean crime investigator, uncovers the hidden world of maritime offenses, from modern-day slavery to drug trafficking, often undetected due to limited visibility of ocean activities. They introduce Hava, an AI tool that uses advanced language processing to identify and track criminal vessels, advocating for a proactive approach to maritime enforcement. The talk highlights the importance of human-technology collaboration in combating these crimes.

Takeaways

• 🌊 The speaker, a scientist, investigates ocean crimes despite being from a landlocked village and unable to swim, highlighting the dedication to the cause.
• 🔍 The investigation of 'The Asian Warrior', a vessel suspected of illegal fishing, reveals the harsh living conditions on ships, indicative of modern-day slavery.
• 🌍 The speaker identifies nearly 50 types of ocean crimes, emphasizing their prevalence and the challenges in monitoring them due to the vastness of the oceans.
• 🤳 The lack of visibility at sea allows for extreme criminal acts to go unnoticed, as illustrated by a selfie video of people being shot at while swimming.
• 💡 Ocean crimes have significant impacts on land, including contributing to issues like real estate inflation through money laundering in places like Vancouver.
• 🚢 There is a vast number of vessels at sea, but visibility into their activities is extremely limited, which criminals exploit for their illicit operations.
• 💰 The speaker discusses the connection between maritime drug trafficking and the drug crisis in the United States, highlighting the scale of the problem.
• 🔒 Current enforcement methods are outdated and ineffective against criminals who are technologically advanced and adept at evading capture.
• 🤖 The introduction of Hava, an AI investigator, represents a shift towards proactive enforcement by identifying and tracking criminal vessels and networks.
• 🔎 Hava's capabilities include analyzing vast amounts of data in multiple languages to uncover criminal activities and patterns, enhancing the fight against maritime crime.
• 👮‍♂️ The speaker stresses the importance of a human approach in complementing technology, ensuring a nuanced understanding of the situations and avoiding bias.

Q & A

What is the speaker's profession and how does it relate to their background?

The speaker is a scientist who investigates ocean crime and its behavior. Despite being born in a landlocked Algerian village and not being able to swim, they have become an expert in this field.

What was the speaker doing in the port of Dakar in Senegal?

The speaker was in Dakar to investigate a Spanish-owned vessel named The Asian Warrior, which was suspected of illegal fishing and had been on Interpol's radar.

What conditions did the speaker observe on the first ship they encountered in Dakar?

The speaker observed crewmen eating only rice, sleeping in a chamber with cardboard instead of mattresses, no blankets, and a low ceiling. There was rust and dead fish piled up in gray water, indicating poor living conditions.

What is the term used for the crime the speaker observed on the ship?

The crime observed by the speaker is referred to as modern-day slavery or forced labor.

How many types of ocean crimes has the speaker identified?

The speaker has identified nearly 50 different types of ocean crimes.

What is the significance of the selfie video mentioned in the script?

The selfie video is significant because it captured an act of violence at sea that would have otherwise gone unnoticed. It came to light only because the phone was found in a cab in Fiji and handed over to the authorities.

What percentage of the world's vessels are we able to monitor?

We only have visibility into the activity of about two percent of the nearly 4.6 million vessels in the world.

How does maritime drug trafficking contribute to the real estate market in Vancouver?

Maritime drug trafficking contributes to the real estate market in Vancouver by inflating property prices through money laundering. Gains from drug trafficking are laundered and injected into the real estate market.

What is the name of the artificial intelligence investigator created by the speaker and their business partner?

The artificial intelligence investigator created by the speaker and their business partner is named Hava.

How does Hava help in identifying and combating maritime crime?

Hava uses 650,000 keyword combinations in 23 languages to search for crimes online, identify those involved, their locations, ship routes, identities, and criminal networks, thus helping to bust criminals.

What is the importance of a human approach in complementing technology when dealing with maritime crimes?

A human approach is important to provide the nuanced understanding, knowledge, and networks that technology lacks. It helps to fill gaps, limit misrepresentations and bias, and ensure that the right criminals are targeted.