Technology identifies troubled individuals

Paslode · 09-30-2010, 18:20

http://www.buffalonews.com/city/article201702.ece

Quote:

By Lou Michel

NEWS STAFF REPORTER

Published:September 26, 2010, 12:00 AM

Updated: September 26, 2010, 6:36 AM

Imagine using the same technology to locate a lone bomber before he carries out his terrorist act and to identify a troubled veteran or first responder ground down by tragedies and violence.

Stop imagining.

Some 120 local first responders from law enforcement and other agencies, the military and mental health professionals gathered Friday to hear firsthand about an advanced computer program that can accomplish those two seemingly different tasks.

The presentation was part of the International First Responder-Military Symposium held at Hilbert College in the Town of Hamburg.

A Swiss professor working with a Massachusetts Institute of Technology scientist who heads the Mind Machine Project there outlined how this program operates through computerized scanning of phone calls and electronic messages sent through e-mail and social networking mechanisms.

“Suppose you know there’s a threat to the president when he is visiting, say, Texas. Through information obtained by the National Security Agency, we have the tools to go through huge quantities of data obtained from that area,” said professor Mathieu Guidere of the University of Geneva.

How? “The computer system detects resentment in conversations through measurements in decibels and other voice biometrics,” he said. “It detects obsessiveness with the individual going back to the same topic over and over, measuring crescendos.”

As for written transmissions scrutinized by the computer program, it can detect the same patterns of fixation on specified subjects, said Guidere, who has worked for years screening mass data that involves radicalization and ideological indoctrination.

Using character traits that have been identified through psychological profiles conducted on lone bombers following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Guidere said he and his colleagues developed programs that isolate signs pointing to a potential terrorist.

He said lone bombers, in particular, are not mentally deranged but harbor hatred and deep resentment toward government. Their emotional spikes, Guidere explained, can be identified by the computer program.

The practical side is that once the individual has been identified, the information can be passed along to authorities so surveillance can begin, he said.

Currently, the computer program can review 10,000 voice or other electronic transmissions in an hour. The goal, the professor said, is to increase the capacity to 100,000 per hour.

On the civilian side, the program can be used by psychologists and other mental health providers working with war veterans, law enforcement officials and others to measure their progress in recovery.

“By recording the voice of the patient, the program can rate negativity and positivity with depression and other emotional disorders,” said Guidere, who is working with Dr. Newton Howard, director of MIT’s Mind Machine Project.

rdret1 · 10-01-2010, 08:44

Shades of "Brazil" ; "1984" ; and even "The Mutant Chronicles."

JJ_BPK · 10-01-2010, 09:03

Very Scary,,

On a similar note,, Guess I'll stop posting about Berry Soetoro...

Saoirse · 10-01-2010, 09:30

Made me think of Minority Report with Tom Cruise. Scarey stuff!

**Pete** · 10-01-2010, 10:37

Where are they getting the voice prints to analyze?

The NSA?

Where is the NSA getting them.

Wireless wiretaps? Monitoring phone conversations?

Seems the left was all in a tizzy about listening in on AQ types in the middle east just because some guy in the US was talking to them.

Where are they now? Oh, yeah, this targets US citizens.

dr. mabuse · 10-01-2010, 12:17

"Suppose you know there’s a threat to the president when he is visiting, say, Texas."

Suppose we say they should stop smoking crack.

"The computer system detects resentment in conversations through measurements in decibels and other voice biometrics,” he said. “It detects obsessiveness with the individual going back to the same topic over and over, measuring crescendos.”

Uh huh.

You have to establish a stable baseline of response behavior, action/reaction and so on. And, pray tell, how can these "professionals" filter for transient behaviors not normally displayed? They can't. How do they know the caller hasn't eaten something that has strongly disagreed with their stomach? How do they measure the totality of the circumstances. They can't.

Pardon the rough comparison, but it would be like running a poly on someone without establishing any type of baseline first.

I smell a major poopy Bravo Sierra diaper on this one.

rdret1 · 10-01-2010, 19:22

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pete

Where are they getting the voice prints to analyze?

The NSA?

Where is the NSA getting them.

Wireless wiretaps? Monitoring phone conversations?

Seems the left was all in a tizzy about listening in on AQ types in the middle east just because some guy in the US was talking to them.

Where are they now? Oh, yeah, this targets US citizens.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/27/us/27wiretap.html

They will get some of their info here maybe?

nmap · 10-01-2010, 20:05

Say, I have an idea.

Let's just arrest all of us. We'll need guards, of course, so the government can then hire all of us. Naturally, they'll need to pay us!

So...we're all incarcerated. We're all trusted guards. We get payments, thus stimulating the economy. Problem solved!

On a more serious note - at what point does freedom of speech end?

drymartini66 · 10-01-2010, 20:23

Quote:

Originally Posted by rdret1

Shades of "Brazil" ; "1984" ; and even "The Mutant Chronicles."

Brazil is one of my favorites and 1984 was just on TV the other day. Very uplifting pics. After all the things I've posted, I definetly have an appointment with the rack.

dr. mabuse · 10-01-2010, 20:37

Quote:

Originally Posted by nmap

Say, I have an idea.

Let's just arrest all of us. We'll need guards, of course, so the government can then hire all of us. Naturally, they'll need to pay us!

So...we're all incarcerated. We're all trusted guards. We get payments, thus stimulating the economy. Problem solved!

On a more serious note - at what point does freedom of speech end?

Careful nmap. Talk like that will get you a job offer inside the Beltway.

Dozer523 · 10-01-2010, 23:12

"The computer system detects resentment in conversations through measurements in decibels and other voice biometrics,” he said. “It detects obsessiveness with the individual going back to the same topic over and over, measuring crescendos.”

Hell! My wife (MRFL) doesn't need a computer to do that with me.

"Headache? HEADACHE! YOU GOT A HEADACHE? Really? Are you sure? Are you really sure? Really, really sure?

GratefulCitizen · 10-02-2010, 19:32

As a stand-alone, it probably wouldn't be very effective.

However, if it were used to trigger some sort of automated data-mining to look for other factors, it might yield something worthwhile.

With whom are they talking?
2 degrees removed?
3 degrees removed?

Are any of those 2nd and 3rd degree relationships persons of interest?
What's the density of such relationships?
How does that density compare with what is "normal"?

Patterns can emerge.
Human ears need not even hear anything prior to these automated calculations.

Not saying it's right, just saying it's a potential tool.

dr. mabuse · 10-02-2010, 20:04

You mean something like "6 degrees of Bacon"?

If they could establish an accurate comparative baseline for each individual or small group (whew!), it might yield a small part of a bigger puzzle.

IIRC, science cannot do this on a small scale accurately yet.

If the first reading step is not done correctly, all that follows should be suspect.

Maybe I'm just old fashioned. I still would like a little accurate HUMINT in the mix when available.

After we do all of this data mining, who's determining if said culled data is significant? I hope for our sake they are very good at that task.

**The Reaper** · 10-02-2010, 20:12

What if you are looking for/expecting one thing (say a domestic right-wing threat), and while focusing your efforts there, get hit by another (possibly a foreign religious extremist operation)?

There are thousands of threats to senior US leadership, and even if correctly identified, the bad guys only have to get lucky once. We have to be right every time.

It is a tough job, I am sure.

TR

GratefulCitizen · 10-02-2010, 20:44

Quote:

Originally Posted by dr. mabuse

After we do all of this data mining, who's determining if said culled data is significant? I hope for our sake they are very good at that task.

Bingo.
Therein lies the problem with data mining.

Computers, by themselves, are only capable of convergent thinking.
Humans aren't so limited.

Once humans realize what is being attempted, they adapt.
Said it before on this site: the future of secrecy is in obfuscation, not denial of access.

Wasn't just referring to state secrets.

If you're trying to blend in with the "Ugly American" in America, how do you behave?
How hard is to discern what is going on with somebody who has a bazillion friends on Facebook?

Data mining may not detect threats hiding in plain sight.