Established in 2021, the center uses artificial intelligence (AI) for comprehensive emergency response, monitoring 900 CCTV cameras across 17 of Seoul’s 21 pedestrian-accessible Han River bridges. Beyond suicide prevention, its most frequent task, the center also handles criminal tracking, traffic accidents and drug enforcement.
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Much of that credit goes to AI, which triggers an alarm if an object identified as a person remains for more than 300 seconds in a bridge’s “loitering zones,” sections where people are able to stand for extended periods.
I certainly agree this does not address the root issue, and it does normalize this technology for adresssing social issues and can then be applied to places where its more harmful like crime- And also I think taken on its own merits this is a good intervention to exist for suicide prevention specifically (though I think its valid to not take it purely on its own merits if one is concerned about the adoption of surveillance tech)
I do want structural solutions though. But that requires rebuilding society in the image of treating humans better, better work and environmental conditions, rethinking healthcare (at least here in the US, no idea how things are in Korea), and about a million other things
And I do think the normalization of surveillance infrastructure should be taken seriously. Especially with the present global rise of authoritarianism