City trader develops AI ‘SOS’ bracelet for women and children at risk of domestic abuse

{"text":[[{"start":10,"text":"A City of London hedge fund manager is developing a bracelet that uses AI to try to protect women and children seen as vulnerable to domestic abuse, an invention aimed at supporting overstretched social services."}],[{"start":23.2,"text":"Irene Perdomo, a trader for the past 14 years, has been co-funding the creation of an “SOS bracelet” that she hopes to give free of charge to the UK government or local authorities."}],[{"start":34.24,"text":"The bracelet, which is at the prototype stage, is designed to monitor the vital signs of children or women identified by social services as being at risk of abuse. It then records and transcribes interactions that might show wearers to be in danger and, if necessary, will alert authorities."}],[{"start":51.6,"text":"Perdomo’s push to develop the bracelet, which she began working on five years ago, was triggered by reading details of the deaths of six-year-old Arthur Labinjo-Hughes in the UK and seven-year-old Adrian Jones in the US."}],[{"start":63.12,"text":"“The combination of the two — I ended up feeling very low ,” said Uruguay-born Perdomo, 49, who is developing the bracelet with a group of other City financiers. “I promised them [Labinjo-Hughes and Jones] that I was going to do this till my last breath.”"}],[{"start":null,"text":"

"}],[{"start":79.4,"text":"Labinjo-Hughes was murdered during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 after being regularly beaten by his stepmother and father."}],[{"start":84.18,"text":"They made him stand to attention alone in the hallway of their house for most of the day, while he was poisoned with so much salt that the sodium in his blood could not be measured by hospital equipment. At the time of his death, 130 bruises were found on his body."}],[{"start":101.14,"text":"Sentencing Labinjo-Hughes’ stepmother and father, the judge described the case as “one of the most distressing and disturbing case[s] with which I have had to deal”."}],[{"start":109.66,"text":"His stepmother, who was found guilty of murder, and his father, who was found guilty of manslaughter and who had researched pressure points in an attempt to cause maximum pain, had “relished in making [Labinjo-Hughes] suffer”, the judge added."}],[{"start":120.88,"text":"In the US, seven-year-old Adrian Jones was beaten and suffered extensive torture by his father and stepmother before eventually being starved to death in 2015 and fed to pigs. One detective on the case described it as the worst they had seen in their career."}],[{"start":136.84,"text":"A national review in 2022 into the murders of Labinjo-Hughes and Star Hobson, a 16-month-old who was also known to authorities before her death in 2020, found “faultlines” in child protection in England."}],[{"start":150.26,"text":"“Multi-agency safeguarding arrangements” were “not yet fit for purpose everywhere” and there was “too much inconsistency and ambiguity in child protection practice”, it added."}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":160.5,"text":"Perdomo’s bracelet works by monitoring a person’s body temperature, pulse, blood oxygen and blood pressure. If it spots abnormalities, an audio recording is triggered, which is analysed for content and emotion by AI for signs of possible threats faced by the wearer."}],[{"start":176.26,"text":"If it detects a potential threat, it will send the audio recording, along with a transcription and the wearer’s location, to a child protection agency."}],[{"start":184.84,"text":"The wearer can press an SOS button to alert social services, while the bracelet can also be set to record at regular intervals. The device is designed to be tamper-proof and to send an alert if someone tries to remove it."}],[{"start":197.74,"text":"Perdomo, who is also a guest lecturer in mathematics and finance at Imperial College London, is in talks with two local councils in South London about the potential use of the bracelets in domestic and non-domestic violence situations."}],[{"start":210.98,"text":"She has also been contacting politicians, social services and charities, while Imperial College’s Department of Computing has also agreed to do further data analysis on the bracelet."}],[{"start":221.3,"text":"David Gadd, professor of criminology at the University of Manchester, said technology could have a role to play in child protection. But he warned of risks, such as social services thinking that tagging a child meant their job was done and the stigma that a child could face at school from wearing such a bracelet."}],[{"start":238.62,"text":"“The unintended consequences will need to be well anticipated,” he said."}],[{"start":243.14,"text":"The development of the bracelet comes amid a growing drive to harness recent, rapid advances in AI and wearable technology for social good or to protect the most vulnerable in society."}],[{"start":253.58,"text":"Precedents for wearable monitoring technology used in conjunction with a court order already exist."}],[{"start":259.1,"text":"The SCRAM Continuous Alcohol Monitoring bracelet is worn around a person’s ankle and will monitor their sweat every 30 minutes to check if they have been drinking alcohol."}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":269.18,"text":"It is used in the US, England and Wales, the Netherlands, New Zealand and Australia, for example as the result of a court order or voluntarily if a person wanting custody of a child needs to prove their sobriety."}],[{"start":282.1,"text":"It has a battery life of up to 90 days, and a trained team is able to provide testimony in court to support the bracelet’s readings if required."}],[{"start":290.58,"text":"Perdomo previously co-managed a hedge fund called Devet Capital, with Leonardo Marroni, who is also part of the team backing the development of the bracelet."}],[{"start":299.62,"text":"It gained a reputation as “the world’s cheapest hedge fund” by keeping costs low. It operated out of a spare room in a suburban house in south London, did not use a Bloomberg terminal and served homemade lettuce cookies to visiting investors."}],[{"start":313.46,"text":"The bracelet’s software was programmed in Uruguay by Aldo Mazza, who previously worked in IT for US health insurer Blue Cross Blue Shield, while the prototype has been built in China."}],[{"start":324.5,"text":"Issues remain, including the battery life, which is two and a half days, although Perdomo is confident that with some tweaks it can be increased to one week."}],[{"start":332.98,"text":"Perdomo declined to say how much she had invested so far in the bracelet, other than that she had put in a “significant amount” of money and time."}],[{"start":340.02,"text":"“No one’s going to make a penny from this,” she said of herself and other trustees. “In fact, we’ve put in money from our own pockets. We don’t want to do anything other than save lives.”"}],[{"start":357.19,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1787921271_8394.mp3"}