Officers of the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service Tobago Division are now better equipped to incorporate and recognise the use of artificial intelligence technology in their operations.
On Thursday, twenty officers attended a workshop titled “AI For Law Enforcement” at Tobago Information Technology Limited.
At a press conference held before the start of the workshop, Senior Superintendent Earl Elie noted the growing trend in artificial intelligence is a concern to the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service.
“We see the need basically for us to be prepared even more than we are to treat with it. We see the prevalence of deepfake videos, and we know the impact that that can have on the public in terms of creating negative images about persons, spreading bad information, negative information. So what it does for us, it tells us that we need to be more careful in forming conclusions and making final decisions. So again, this course this morning will open up the eyes of the officers and create in them that capacity to deal with this trend that is AI.”
According to Assistant Commissioner of Police Oswain Subero, the training falls in line with the TTPS Tobago Division’s operations plan. He brought context to the benefits of AI inclusion in the TTPS’ operations, highlighting that in Tobago, persons have been booking hotels they do not own.
“Persons are arriving at guesthouses only to realise that the person that they paid have no affiliation with the hotels. We have a new airport that will be opened soon, and we see this as giving the police the edge on security, and we intend to do an eagle eye project in Tobago, which was done in the north central division where most of the Tobago businesses – we want them to have their cameras – and then we would have a feed in one of our police stations to view those cameras.”
The workshop’s facilitator and Chief Executive Officer of GNC Labs, Gerard Llanos, explained that we are living through a technological change, and, as such, they have seen the need to equip the protective service.
“In the same world where the police are not yet universally AI literate and using AI, the criminals are becoming AI literate. People are using AI for evil purposes. So what we are trying to do and what we are going to do this morning is start the process right here in Tobago of empowering law enforcement with the context, more so than the knowledge, the context and the skills to push back against emerging threats.”
Jade Monkey Bar and Casino sponsored the training as Mr. Llanos noted the company has incorporated AI in its operations and saw the benefits.