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AI Privacy

AI Surveillance is Expanding Worldwide (apnews.com) 28

A growing number of countries are following China's lead in deploying artificial intelligence to track citizens, according to a research group's report published Tuesday. From a report: The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace says at least 75 countries are actively using AI tools such as facial recognition for surveillance. The index of countries where some form of AI surveillance is used includes liberal democracies such as the United States and France as well as more autocratic regimes. Relying on a survey of public records and media reports, the report says Chinese tech companies led by Huawei and Hikvision are supplying much of the AI surveillance technology to countries around the world. Other companies such as Japan's NEC and U.S.-based IBM, Palantir and Cisco are also major international providers of AI surveillance tools.

Hikvision declined comment Tuesday. The other companies mentioned in the report didn't immediately return requests for comment. The report encompasses a broad range of AI tools that have some public safety component. The group's index doesn't distinguish between legitimate public safety tools and unlawful or harmful uses such as spying on political opponents. "I hope citizens will ask tougher questions about how this type of technology is used and what type of impacts it will have," said the report's author, Steven Feldstein, a Carnegie Endowment fellow and associate professor at Boise State University. Many of the projects cited in Feldstein's report are "smart city" systems in which a municipal government installs an array of sensors, cameras and other internet-connected devices to gather information and communicate with one another.

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AI Surveillance is Expanding Worldwide

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  • So what are the countries in the list???
    • ...following China's lead...

      It's propaganda. No-one is following China's lead.

      • Ok, some, like the USA, might try to lead the evilness race themselves.

        But in this, every country on the planet seems to be one happy family of devil's rejects. Like they all got together at the UN ... Saudi Arabia, China, USA, Germany, UK, Russia, Israel, you name it ... and decided totalitarianism is the way to go.

        And in the end, it does not matter if they were conspiring. What people do not realize, is that a coordinated efford does not require planning or organization. (Not excluding it either.) Hence A

      • ...following China's lead...

        It's propaganda. No-one is following China's lead.

        Not even propaganda. Advertisement for lousy shite containing outright disinformation. Huawei dropped their own image recognition software programme and bought Russian software during the Comrade Xi visit a couple of months ago. Their own SUCKED to the extent one would expect most software written using 996 slave labour.

        Now Russian, that is different story. If faceapp and the Moscow CCTV deployment are a basis to judge, they are a couple of years ahead of everyone. So the fact that Huawei bought theirs i

      • Yes they are. China is exporting its technology to Southern America. India has their new system, etc.
        https://duckduckgo.com/?q=chin... [duckduckgo.com]

        The desire for total control can arise in all cultures. The Stasi was an analog pre-cursor to China. And before that there were similar repressive regimes. Totalitarianism goes hand in hand with a desire for improved tracking and tallying.

        Behind every Shield there's a Hydra waiting to resurface.

        • Yes they are. China is exporting its technology to Southern America. India has their new system, etc. https://duckduckgo.com/?q=chin... [duckduckgo.com]

          The desire for total control can arise in all cultures. The Stasi was an analog pre-cursor to China. And before that there were similar repressive regimes. Totalitarianism goes hand in hand with a desire for improved tracking and tallying.

          Behind every Shield there's a Hydra waiting to resurface.

          I assume you meant to say South America.
          On this forum, most people would think Southern America to be Alabama, etc;

          Totalitarianism really is driven by the ease with which algorithmic tracking with sensors and data can be enabled.
          It matters not what political or cultural system uses it, it ends up the same way.
          Computer Technology, once heralded as the great equalizer for human society has been exposed as the great controller.

    • USA via Amazon. Ring? Alexa? They aren’t your friend, friends...
  • That "Al surveillance" sure sounds like some moose-lamb plot that is gunna try an' take away muh god* given right ta walk around nekkid in ma own trayla.

    The gubmint should do sumting!!!!

    --------

    * for various values of god.

    • That "Al surveillance" sure sounds like some moose-lamb plot that is gunna try an' take away muh god* given right ta walk around nekkid in ma own trayla.

      The gubmint should do sumting!!!!

      --------

      * for various values of god.

      AI surveillance is fake news making by moose and squirrel! Tell him is so Natasha! Good wadka juice you got there Donald.

    • The gubmint should do sumting!!!!

      In many respects, I would really prefer they didn't.

      • The gubmint should do sumting!!!!

        In many respects, I would really prefer they didn't.

        The gubmint is run by the corporations, like Amazon.

    • Found the police state apologist!

  • I bought a Wyze pan-n-tilt and it FOLLOWS ME
  • A.I. will follow the steps of man. First it will learn from its creator. Second, it will believe it is equal to its creator. And lastly, it will believe it is superior to its creator. The question is, will A.I., in its arrogance, make the same mistakes that man has in creating A.I. leadibg to self-destruction?
  • if one day in the future a corporate AI decides that a CEO is evil and traps them in their office. That'd be nice.
  • Implement checks and balances instead of trying to remove it entirely. Why are people too stupid to handle a little bit of complexity nowadays? Airplanes were terribly unsafe when they came out, now they are much safer thanks to redundancies and checks. We can do the same with surveillance. Have powerful penalties and multiple rotating authorizations needed to review surveillance files or to track people. It won't eliminate all abuse, but the alternative enables people to get away with mad heinous crimes to

  • These are merely a special kind of function, that you program by training instead of specification.

    They are still merely an elaborate wrench at the end of a human hand.

    And it if still those humans, who are totalitarian monsters.

  • by mrwireless ( 1056688 ) on Wednesday September 18, 2019 @04:57AM (#59207376)

    > "I hope citizens will ask tougher questions about how this type of technology is used and what type of impacts it will have," said the report's author.

    It doesn't seem we are able or willing.

    There are only 16 comments on this post. Most of them make some remark about consciousness level AI, either quipping about robot overlords or explaining that 'AI' is a hyped term (which it is, sure).

    Perhaps it's hitting close to home? Many of us like to believe that machine learning is a highway to 'progress'. We need to believe technology is a force for good, emancipating and empowering citizens. Because otherwise why build it?

    The truth is that many of us don't think through the potential negative consequences or certain technological directions. It's a culture. For example, most conferences about new technologies will only have talks about the amazing possibilities. Even as the 'techlash' grows, too often critical thought is still branded pessimism.

    We like to hide behind the idea that technology is "neutral", as a way of absolving responsibility. But perhaps some technologies are more neutral than others? Why not invest or have a career in clean energy instead of people tracking? Hasn't street crime prevention reached a 'good enough' level by now?

    Perhaps it's because the short term benefits of new technologies are highly visible - and promoted. Face recognition will help catch criminals! Sure.
    But what are the long term side effects? We have children growing up in a surveillance culture, who find it normal that they are always watched and tracked somehow. What will that do to the human condition? Are we a socially "cooler" climate? https://www.socialcooling.com/ [socialcooling.com]

    These aren't questions "nobody has the answer to". Historians, sociologists, ethicists, philosophers, they are specialized in understand human culture. We like to think technology is new, but often the ideas behind it are as old as humanity itself.

    Instead of focusing only on the technology, we should learn to better understand the culture we're building as well. In the coming year, why not take a course on sociology, ethics or philosophy instead of machine learning? Perhaps then we can have an actually informed debate on all this.

    • Thanks for the socialcooling link.
      I have noticed that effect taking place.
      Smart phones, social media and omnipresent surveillance will do that...

      I went to a panel discussion about the new "algorithm age" that we are heading into.
      The CS profs that spoke really treated the audience like children and were essentially cheerleaders for Machine Learning/Algorithmic control of society being a good thing. It was really quite sad.

      You should check out Hararis book, Homo Deus.
      He tackles these topics bet
    • From an individual standpoint - it doesn't help to be more informed than the average voter. In fact, the more informed you are, the more disappointing and aggravating politics will become. It's easier to disengage from the public space and focus on the technical, because there, rationality is still a core principle.

      Our problems stem not from those that study technology to the detriment of social issues, but instead, those that study and consider FUCKALL, but vote regularly.
    • Because the humanities have been conquered by the SJW left and no longer offer anything of value. Well, if you think that lodging grievances against Western civilization is valuable. Many on the Left do. :(
  • A drone, that seeks out and sprays some paint on surveillance cameras. Something cheap and open source and 3d printable

  • This is a good thing. We need expanded surveillance of the use of Algorithmic Inference.

    What do you mean, the headline has nothing to do with the article? Perhaps some English lessons are called for ...

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