Some believe technological advancement will deter crimes, while others think it increases crime rates. Although some new forms of crimes appear due to new technology, I believe that the evolution of communication technology will help prevent crimes from happening.
On the one hand, many argue that as technology evolves, crimes will become more sophisticated and more challenging to counter. One prime example of this is the increased usage of artificial intelligence (AI) to create videos and audio to imitate the voice and facial features of a real person. Critics of AI argue that criminals will use this technology to mask themselves on the Internet in order to stay anonymous and scam other unaware people. There are such cases in Vietnam where people fall victim to phone calls that have the voices of their loved ones, resulting in immense monetary loss. However, in my view, the rate of these new types of crimes will eventually decrease as people’s awareness increases.
On the other hand, I agree that the development of communication technology is the key to discouraging crimes. The use of social media, where victims usually share their stories as a warning to others, is a prime example. As these stories go viral, the awareness of people who view them will increase, and people will act more cautiously towards these new types of crime. Moreover, the phone camera’s readiness and instantaneous social media content sharing can help prevent crimes in real-time. To be more specific, people can live stream, as in simultaneously recording and broadcasting video, crimes that are about to happen or happening, with every single detail their camera can capture onto the internet. Not only will this deter something wrong from occurring, but it can also become evidence in the later procedures when needed.
In conclusion, while some may think that new technology will create more complex criminal activities, I agree that these new technologies can decrease the crime rate, especially given how fast information can spread on the Internet in the current era.