Artificial intelligence (AI) could be used to prioritise low-level crimes for Warwickshire Police with talks already underway. 

The force's Chief Superintendent Mike Smith said policing was "quite rapidly" moving towards AI solutions but also acknowledged the "ethical questions" involved in an address to councillors this week. 

Superintendent Smith and police and crime commissioner Philip Seccombe – the elected official that has political oversight of the force – were fielding questions from Stratford-on-Avon District Council's overview and scrutiny committee, a panel of councillors that looks at the effectiveness of and makes recommendations to bodies that deliver public services. 

Cllr Jenny Fradgley asked: "To what extent is AI beginning to have an impact on policing, saving time, and in what areas would it be used?

"Will it reduce your need for more manpower when it fully comes in or comes into play more than it is at the moment?"

Mr Seccombe detailed how technology was helping with certain tasks related to vetting.

"We have spent significant funds on information technology (IT), not only updating some of the hardware but some software programmes and it is looking at robotics which is AI," he said.

"As an example, we process around 30,000 vetting applications each year. We have a national contract for that and a lot of that process is now automatic, done by a machine but plainly with human oversight. 

"Although we have 100 people who work in that department, it would be significantly more without robotics."

Superintendent Mike Smith added that more advanced AI "is starting to get a foothold in policing".

"There are a lot of ethical questions around this, particularly when you are making decisions around risk and prioritisation," he said. 

"We are really comfortable that policing can move into this space a lot. We have to bring the public with us because there will naturally be trust and confidence questions if we have AI making decisions around whether or not a crime is prioritised, so there is a lot of debate playing out around this. 

"We are talking to an AI company around some initial options, potentially looking at bringing it into some low-risk areas. It is absolutely gaining pace, quite rapidly actually.

"How much (it can do) was the other part of the question, I think that is to be decided. It depends how far policing goes into the AI space. All forces are starting to tread carefully into this area because there are some risks with it."