Hahn J (2026)
Publication Type: Journal article
Publication year: 2026
The article examines the impact of artificial intel- ligence (AI) on the selectivity of criminal social control and argues that these technologies not only reproduce but qual- itatively transform existing selection mechanisms. While current debates primarily focus on issues such as technical fallibility, human oversight, and fundamental rights, the article shifts attention to structural selectivity – namely, the question of which spaces, individuals, and types of offenses come into the focus of criminal justice authorities. Drawing on various fields of application – including in- telligent suspicion generation, biometric identification, and algorithmic data analysis – the article demonstrates that AI is already shaping key stages of the criminal process, particularly the generation of suspicion and investigative practices. In doing so, existing spatial and personal patterns of selectivity are reinforced, for example through the concentration of technological surveillance in specific locations and the use of selectively composed databases. At the same time, attention is shifting toward »technology-compatible« offenses that can be efficiently detected and processed through automated systems. Moreover, the use of AI introduces a new quality of selectivity: scaling effects intensify selective mechanisms, while algorithmic decision-making increasingly obscures their underlying causes. Biases in training data and differ- ing error rates may further reinforce discriminatory out- comes. Overall, the article concludes that AI leads to an am- plification, shift, and obfuscation of selective criminal en- forcement. Given limited resources, selectivity remains unavoidable; however, there is a risk that it will be driven more by technological possibilities than by deliberate, sub- stantive criteria. The article therefore calls for recognizing selectivity as a central dimension in the discourse on AI in criminal justice.
APA:
Hahn, J. (2026). Amplification, Shift, Obfuscation – On the Effects of Artificial Intelligence on the Selectivity of Criminal Social Control Verstärkung, Verschiebung, Verschleierung– Zu den Auswirkungen von künstlicher Intelligenz auf die Selektivität strafrechtlicher Sozialkontrolle. Monatsschrift für Kriminologie und Strafrechtsreform. https://doi.org/10.1515/mks-2026-0019
MLA:
Hahn, Johanna. "Amplification, Shift, Obfuscation – On the Effects of Artificial Intelligence on the Selectivity of Criminal Social Control Verstärkung, Verschiebung, Verschleierung– Zu den Auswirkungen von künstlicher Intelligenz auf die Selektivität strafrechtlicher Sozialkontrolle." Monatsschrift für Kriminologie und Strafrechtsreform (2026).
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