San Jose’s police chief released a video on Tuesday that uses artificial intelligence to convert his voice into Spanish in a message to residents that the department does not enforce immigration laws.Â
In the video, Chief Paul Joseph emphasizes that San Jose police officers do not enforce federal immigration laws, will not ask about a person’s immigration status, and that everyone can report crimes without fear of immigration consequences. Â
Joseph said in a press conference on Tuesday that having AI translate his voice into Spanish was an idea the department’s media relations unit came up with.Â
They said, ‘Hey, this may be a great way to communicate to our community in a manner that will make them receive the message more clearly and in a way that’s more comfortable for them to hear,'” said Joseph. “So, it’s an innovative use of AI technology and we’re hopeful that it’s well received.”
Watch: San Jose police chief says AI translates video message to immigrants in his own voice
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Some local law enforcement agencies and jurisdictions limit cooperation with federal immigration authorities to build trust with immigrant communities. Joseph said he believes some community members are afraid to report crime over concerns of immigration enforcement. He added that the department has seen a decrease in reports of domestic violence and sexual assault over the past six months, although the reasons are not clear.
“It is concerning to us that if people are afraid that contacting the police when they are the victims of a crime could lead to them being deported, perhaps they would not,” said Joseph. “We’re never going to stop trying to build that trust and strengthen our relationship with the community, so if this helps people to feel that, when they need our help, they can call us, then it’s all worth it, it’s all worth the experiment.”
Some members of the community, like immigration organizer Laurie Valdez with Silicon Valley De-Bug, question why a native Spanish-speaking human within the department couldn’t have delivered the same message.
“If he couldn’t speak it, he should have got one of his officers who can speak it, speak it, not use AI,” said Valdez. “That’s like, that’s like a joke to me. That’s just like a slap in the face for the Latino community.”
Valdez added that while the message matters more than ever, how it’s delivered carries more weight.
“You can’t police community [that] you can’t even communicate with,” said Valdez. “And you can’t say you care about them if you’re using AI, and other things could come from that.”
Joseph said it was important that residents hear the message from the police chief directly, and that if the message is well received, future messages could be translated by AI into other languages.
“This is exactly the kind of innovation we should be leading with,” said Mayor Matt Mahan in a prepared statement. “Using AI to break down language barriers and connect directly with our residents is a smart, compassionate use of technology. I want to thank the San Jose Police Department for making sure every San José family, no matter what language they speak, knows they can trust and rely on their police department.”
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