Minority Report: Now with more spreadsheets and guesswork

The UK government has unveiled a scheme to use AI to "help police catch criminals before they strike."

It all sounds a bit Minority Report: the Tom Cruise film set in a dystopian future in which would-be criminals are apprehended before their crimes are committed thanks to psychics known as "precogs".

There's no psychic involvement this time. Instead, the plan is to collate data to create detailed interactive crime maps to identify where crime is most likely to happen.

The tool, which is to be fully operational and "supported by AI" in 2030, will bring together data shared between police, councils, and social services. It will include criminal records, previous incident locations, and behavioral patterns of known offenders.

Prototypes, an element of the initial £4m investment, are due by April 2026, and the complete solution, which will cover England and Wales, is part of the UK government's £500 ...