What do you think?
Science is going where, previously, only science fiction has dared to go. A scientist named Al-Ghaili has just revealed his vision of a future prison that could enable the release of criminals within minutes, instead of on timescales ranging from years to decades.
The idea revolves around a neural intervention called “Cognify,” which would allow the implantation of synthetic memories into the mind of the criminal. These memories would force the criminal to experience his crime from the point of view of his victim’s.
The system could employ a device using something approximating VR technology displaying AI-generated footage of the criminal’s actions, and these elements would work in concert with a brain implant that would induce in the criminal the emotional states of regret and remorse—an important component, as many criminals have brains which are incapable of generating these states unaided.
The U.S. prison population now well north of 1.7 million inmates. The rationale for this mass incarceration is that the prison experience is thought to deter offenders from future crimes—and yet studies on recidivism rates, including over 100 published in 2021 alone, show that re-offense is common after release from prison.
Looking at this situation, Al-Ghaili is dreaming of a future where crime is controlled with technology that forces criminals to learn from their past. The pitch video for the technology specifies that, when fully mature, Cognify could allow operators to directly implant artificial memories into a prisoner’s brain. The procedure itself would be carried out after high-resolution brain scans, and take only minutes, but it would seem to the criminal as if years had passed—all spent re-living the torture they had visited on others from the point of view of their victim.
The memories, Al-Ghaili goes on to speculate, would necessarily be tailored to each subject, based on what authorities deem appropriate for rehabilitation and punishment purposes for the individual criminal and the crime of which he’s been convicted.
