How DARPA Plans to Catch the Next Arizona Shooter--Before He Strikes

[mia]

BY David ZaxThu Jan 13, 2011
As DARPA puts it: "When we look through the evidence after the fact, we often find a trail--sometimes even an 'obvious' one. The question is can we pick up the trail before the fact giving us time to intervene and prevent an incident?" Computer forensics companies rise to the challenge.

If it sounds like something out of science fiction, that's because it is. But the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA) has in a mind a program that would suss out criminals before they do the deed. A few months ago, DARPA announced its interest in what it's calling "Anomaly Detection at Multiple Scales," or ADAMS, for short. Published in October, the document clearly had in mind people like the alleged Fort Hood shooter Nidal Malik Hasan or alleged Wiki-leaker Pfc. Bradley Manning; as DARPA put it: "Each time we see an incident like a soldier in good mental health becoming homicidal or suicidal or an innocent insider becoming malicious we wonder why we didn’t see it coming."

In this age, we all leave considerable digital traces of our thoughts, actions, and motions. In the wake of a tragedy, often we are able to discern a pattern in the data, signs that someone who may have seemed harmless was actually about to do great harm. As DARPA writes, "When we look through the evidence after the fact, we often find a trail--sometimes even an 'obvious' one. The question is can we pick up the trail before the fact giving us time to intervene and prevent an incident? Why is that so hard? Because we generally need to look through an enormous amount of data and don’t know where to look or what to look for. In particular, we generally don’t have a good understanding of normal versus anomalous behaviors and how these manifest themselves in the data."

In other words, hindsight is 20/20. But what if we could make foresight 20/20 as well?


http://www.fastcompany.com/1716893/how-a-darpa-funded-program-could-catch-the-next-arizona-shooter-before-he-strikes

[RandomThoughts]

1. You would have minority report.

And you would have the destruction of some innocent people because they fit some pattern.


That has been done for awhile, but who decides what is 'bad'

That is the same thing as blacklisting actually, the concept at least. If someone fits some thought pattern you disagree with someone could target them for not being in a position to have an impact within the view of some group.


On a side note, that is what college and much of the system does. It test for complete compliance, followship, and doing what you are told.

Business does the same thing with many challenges of conscious versus profit.

That way mostly people without feeling and thought, and that can be easily controlled will move up in that system. I understand how much of that works, it is about conformity training. Even the 'testing' situations in schools is to add conformity to teachers in the same way. If you do not teach to some test, regardless of that test, then you get penalized.

It is already being done in many places.

Considering the many faults in the system, and since cowardice and compliance is the intent of that system, I decided it would be better to change that entire system then join it.

And I am still due beer and travel money, and that will happen one way or another, even if the entire system has to change to begin to accept concepts of justice and compassion.

Just add enough noise so the system can not compute the variables, then it is also humorous. Especially when they see the variables are more then they can compute.

Star Trek
http://www.imdb.com/video/cbs/vi1603929881/
http://www.cbs.com/classics/star_trek/video/?pid=iOlGKTRvuUMIxjLqtWzsC5mFJaWZiEVC



Side note, speaking about function, because most of the system is not to stop shooters but to create controllable shooters within a system. Military recruitment, or PR systems are an example of that.

[PufPuf23]

9. The dysfunctional and violent culture breeds dysfunction and violence.

The USA is non-discriminant in supporting "allies", now often over the base needs of the domestic well-being.

The domestic culture is a powder keg compared as to the actual of the 60s and 70s.

There is an economic and opportunity draft that damages society on net but is seen as an only or patriotic opportunity for many young. War is stupid. Imagine Afghanistan or Iraq if we had bombed love dollars to improve lives instead of death, lies, and mayhem.

The M$M could have been just as successful in such a marketing plan as Shock and Awe (Shekinah).

Beer and travel money is a good metaphor of each individuals stake in the USA even though I do not drink beer and haven't traveled much lately (though have more than most Americans prior to 2000) as I am an old dropout in a natural paradise that does not stray far from home now.

[Denninmi]

2. I think it's a dangerous precedent in a way.

A real catch 22, IMO. This reminds me of the film 'Minority Report' and the sci-fi short story it was based upon. Are we really ready to prejudge criminal intent?

[Fumesucker]

3. What could possibly go wrong?

[jp11]

4. Yay, let's get those internet thought crime laws, plus digital internet id's then we can

fine and arrest more people with ADAMS it is all so perfect!

[Poll_Blind]

5. This is candy coating to "We want ALL your data. Your purchases both in real life and...

...online, your Facebook account (don't worry we can suss that one out without too much help, the frequency with which you send e-mails and to whom..." And on and on.

They might be able to do something like this but it's far from romantic- it is Orwellian.

PB

[villager]

6. Tipping their hands that they equate Wiki-leakers with murderers

...and they will repeat this meme about these being "equal crimes against the state" until people dutifully nod along...

[hobbit709]

7. Will they consult a psychic?

[Arctic Dave]

8. Same bullshit they tried to do after 9/11.

Give us unfettered access to all your data so we can make you safe.

No thank you.