Psycho-Pass is a series that deals with the philosophical implications of having an automated system that decides whether or not you’re a criminal, based solely on what it can read of your psychology. Of course a system like this isn’t fool-proof, and sometimes that means that it gets things wrong, as Akane finds out when she joins the Public Safety Bureau as an Inspector.
But elements of the system work just like they’re supposed to, allowing the Inspectors to remain safe and for them to be able to capture criminals. Here are five times when Akane was right and the Sibyl System was wrong and five times when the Sibyl System worked properly.
10 Akane: Not Allowing The Enforcers To Shoot The Hostage
In the very first episode of the series, we see Akane in an incredibly difficult situation. A woman has been taken hostage by a man who has tormented and assaulted her. Because of the trauma of this, her Psycho-Pass number is much higher, putting her in the category of latent criminal, and her fear makes her dangerous, which allows their guns to go into lethal mode. Akane is not okay with the fact that this woman they have been trying to save might die at their own hands, and she uses the Paralyzer on her own gun to stop Kogami from killing her.
9 Sibyl System: Using Guns That Lock
The Inspectors and Enforcers use a special weapon called The Dominator while they’re out in the field. It’s essentially a gun, but it’s connected to the Sibyl System, which allows it to read a person’s Psycho-Pass. If someone isn’t a latent criminal, according to the System, the gun’s safety will lock and the user will be unable to fire it.
Similarly, unless it reads someone as being actively dangerous, it uses a Paralyzer effect instead of lethal force. This is a great idea to keep someone from going off the handle and using the Dominator in a way that puts people in danger.
8 Akane: Standing By Her Decision
Given the blowback that Akane gets for refusing to let Kogami kill a hostage in the first episode, and the fact that it was her first day on the job, it would have been easy for Akane to acknowledge that she’d messed up and not do something like that again. Instead, in her report, she stands by her decision, knowing that she made the right choice to protect an innocent person who had had a horrible experience. She even notes that the therapy that the woman is now undergoing is working well and that her Psycho-Pass seems to be recovering. This clearly shows her decision was correct.
7 Sibyl System: Being Able To Stop Enforcers
The Enforcers are latent criminals who use their skills to hunt down other latent (and active) criminals instead of being locked away in isolation from other people. For the most part, Inspectors treat them like they’re less than human because of their potential for becoming criminals.
Because of this criminality, the Dominators work on them, so if they need to be stopped from getting out of control in the field, an Inspector can use a Dominator to paralyze them. While Akane feels bad for stopping Kogami the way she did, the fact that she was able to non-lethally stop him from killing an innocent is a good use of this kind of technology.
6 Akane: Treating The Enforcers Like People
At the same time that being able to stop an Enforcer from doing something bad, without irreversibly hurting them, is a good thing, Akane also refuses to see Enforcers the same way that other Inspectors do. She values their opinions, seeing that they have unique skill sets and abilities that make them important assets for solving crimes and catching suspects. Because she is kind to them and doesn’t treat them like tools or criminals that can’t be trusted, they’re often kind to her in return and are quick to work with and defend her when necessary.
5 Sibyl System: Assigning People Work Based On Aptitude
This element of the Sibyl System isn’t so different from aptitude tests in our current school systems. But in the Sibyl System, these tests are done early in life and use technology to scan your intelligence levels as well as your Psycho-Pass to determine what your temperament and intellectual capacities might be suited for.
From the perspective of having a well-running, highly-functional society, this is a pretty good idea, as it positions everyone in a place where they can do the job they have well. It also takes away some of the uncertainty of not knowing what to do with your life or how to find a job, since employers also have access to your aptitude scores.
4 Akane: Wanting To Choose Her Own Career
At the same time, what might suit somebody based on grades or intellectual testing levels might not suit the same person on a personal level. Akane was at the top of her class in school, getting perfect scores on tests, and her aptitude allowed her positions in more highly specialized fields like engineering or technology. But Akane wanted to use her skills and intelligence to help people in a very specific way, which is why she settled for a less prestigious career as an Inspector for the Public Safety Bureau. Regardless of aptitude, being allowed to choose your own career is the best way to achieve happiness.
3 Sibyl System: Identifying Criminals By Their Coefficient
The most important part of the Sibyl System is the Psycho-Pass. The Psycho-Pass allows the System, and anyone with the technology to read it, to see what someone’s criminal coefficient levels are and to automatically decide if a person might be a threat. While, of course, there are issues with this system, we have seen several examples throughout the series of people who were dangerous. The coefficient allows the Public Safety Bureau to take a person off the street in order to make sure they aren’t a danger to themselves or others.
2 Akane: Knowing About Virtual Reality Commufields
Though Akane is relatively new to being an Inspector, she quickly shows that she has knowledge of spaces that others in her position don’t and that the Sibyl System alone can’t police as easily. One such space are the virtual reality Commufields, which are online social spaces where people go to spend time and hang out with each other. Akane has familiarity with them and enough knowledge about how they work and the people who spend time in them to help solve cases that otherwise the team would have no leads in.
1 Sibyl System: Using Drones In Dangerous Situations
Drones are always a contentious topic when it comes to law enforcement because they act without having a human element to make judgment calls for them. But in the Sibyl System’s case, the drones have the same safety features in place that the Dominators do, allowing them to patrol public spaces with innocent people out and about without accidentally hurting someone who’s innocent. They’re also able to scan the Psycho-Passes of people out in public, allowing them to detain any suspects until the police arrive to take them away. This keeps Inspectors and Enforcers out of the immediate line of fire and keeps public spaces from becoming war zones.