China Uses World-Class Surveillance Technology to Combat School Violence

Installation of Smart Voice Detectors in School Restrooms
Alarm Messages Sent Upon Detection of Abusive Language or Requests for Help

In China, smart voice detectors that detect swearing or calls for help are being installed to prevent school violence. When swearing or a distress call is detected, an alert message is sent to teachers within 5 seconds. According to recent reports from local media such as Guangmingwang, these detectors have been installed in schools in regions including Fuzhou in Fujian Province, Dehui in Jilin Province, and Zhangshan City in Zhejiang Province.

As soon as the smart voice detector is activated, a real-time alert signal is received on the teacher's computer.
[Photo by NetEase website capture]

This is a drastic measure taken amid increased attention to school violence following an incident last month in China where three 13-year-old middle school students murdered a classmate and secretly buried the body. The three students, including Jang Mo, who attended a middle school in Feixiang District, Handan City, assaulted their classmate Wang Mo to the extent that his face was unrecognizable, and after he died, they buried him in an abandoned greenhouse. They are suspected of premeditating the crime by digging a pit in advance and are known to have bullied the victim regularly.

As a result, smart voice recognition devices installed in security blind spots such as school restrooms detect voices containing swearing or calls for help and send alert messages to teachers' mobile phones or computers within 5 seconds, enabling the school to recognize the situation. Chinese media reported that if the effectiveness of these detectors is confirmed in each school, more schools are expected to adopt them. The manufacturer of the detectors is also reportedly researching abnormal sound detection technology that automatically reports to the police by identifying sounds such as screams, swearing, and fighting, as well as technology that processes dialects and noisy environmental sounds.

Meanwhile, the Chinese government created a large-scale surveillance system called Skynet in 2005. The government revealed the existence of Skynet in 2013, and at that time, surveillance through more than 20 million closed-circuit TVs (CCTVs) was already in operation. China is known to conduct special surveillance not only on ordinary citizens but also on Islamic mosques in the Xinjiang region, Tibetan monasteries, and dissidents.

Based on these technologies, China is rapidly developing its AI industry. Despite controls such as the U.S. semiconductor export-import restrictions, China has established itself as one of the two leading countries in the AI industry alongside the United States. In the 'Global AI Index' published by UK-based Tortoise Intelligence, China ranked second last year, following the United States.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.