Greetings all, and a belated Happy Wednesday.
To begin, an apology, i’ve had (oh so many) issues with the mailout function of the newsletter, and so while the newsletter has been published online, it almost certainly hasn’t made it into your inbox. Which is just a little frustrating. After much consultation, quite a few shenanigans, and a sigh or two, I think (I hope) this has all been resolved. Says I, with a certain degree of trepidation.
I’m not going to link to the previous instalments here – that seems too much like tempting fate – but they are online at aihumanrights.blog should you care to peruse.
Facial recognition makes a welcome return to the newsletter. The Washington Post has a piece on the hidden role of facial recognition in arrests, which brings to mind the longstanding parallel construction chat. The FT has a piece on the Met police’s dramatic expansion of LFR surveillance. There is also a report on a stabbing 100m from a facial recognition van in London, which brings into question police claims that live facial recognition acts as a deterrent (which is of itself somewhat contradictory, given that they also claim no real chilling effect linked to facial recognition surveillance). Speaking of chilling effects (what. a. segue) a tribunal in the north of ireland heard claims of chilling effects linked to police surveillance. This is not AI-related, but i’m doing a lot of work on chilling effects at the moment. So there we are. And (in another segue) i’ve co-authored a paper (with a philosopher!) on the links between chilling effects and human flourishing (or lack thereof).
For all the human rights heads, the UN SR on racism has a new report on Racial Discrimination and Emerging DIgital Technologies: A Human Rights Analysis. Which should be worth a read. The Atlantic also has a piece on how AI may be leading us into unchartered maths territory. To be honest, a lot of maths territory seems quite unchartered from em, certain, perspectives.
Thats me for the week. I’m at the International Law Conference in London next week (speaking about….AI!) so if you’re there please do say hi.
Hope ye all have a lovely week. I shall leave you with this charming piece by Regina Spektor.
PS I really hope this fecking mailout works!
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Websites
WIRED, This Homemade Drone Software Finds People When Search and Rescue Teams Can’t
Context, One Year of War in Gaza: Decoding the role of Big Tech | Context
Washington Post, Meta unveils AI video model, as tech giants race to produce Hollywood-style clips
WIRED, This Video Game Controller Has Become the US Military’s Weapon of Choice
The Atlantic, We’re Entering Uncharted Territory for Math
The Washington Post, Police seldom disclose use of facial recognition despite false arrests
The Washington Post, Miami assistant chief of police on AI facial recognition
The Wall Street Journal, U.S. Wiretap Systems Targeted in China-Linked Hack – WSJ (not strictly AI, but seems pertinent)
Techopedia, AI in Home Surveillance: Can We Trust AI Video Analytics?
BBC, Tribunal hears secret PSNI surveillance creates ‘chill factor’ – BBC News
Smithsonian, Scientists Unveil the First-Ever Complete Map of an Adult Fruit Fly’s Brain, Captured in Stunning Detail
MyLondon, Croydon stabbing 100m from facial recognition van ‘shows it’s not a deterrent’ – MyLondon
Defense One, The Army wants to roboticize forklifts (oh its a slippery slope 😉 )
Financial Times, Met police use of facial recognition in London surges
WIRED, Hacking Generative AI for Fun and Profit
WIRED, License Plate Readers Are Creating a US-Wide Database of More Than Just Cars
The New York Times, How The New York Times uses A.I. for journalism
The Register, Eric Schmidt: Build more AI datacenters, we aren’t going to ‘hit climate goals anyway’
The Conversation, AI is a multi-billion dollar industry. It’s underpinned by an invisible and exploited workforce
The Conversation, Sex machina: inside the wild west world of human-AI relationships, where the lonely and vulnerable are most at risk (it seems like there are a lot more potential titles)
Financial Times, Google break-up could turn Big Tech into Medium Tech (good title)
Financial Times, The new recruitment arms race
Blogs
Just Security, AI at UNGA79: Recapping Key Themes
Just Security, Maintaining the Rule of Law in the Age of AI
Podcast:
The Guardian, Could AI help fight conspiracy theories?
Video:
Real Crime Uncovered Podcast, Retail Facial Recognition (this is a video of the podcast)
Reports
UN SR on Racism, Racial Discrimination and Emerging DIgital Technologies: A Human Rights Analysis
EuroMed Rights, New report: An analysis of digital surveillance technologies for migration control at the Spanish southern border
Joint Letter re UK Government Plans to Initiate Surveillance of Bank Accounts in the context of suspected social welfare fraud.
Academic Literature
*Disclaimer: The following have not been evaluated for their methodology and do not necessarily reflect the views of the AI & Human Right Blog Niclas Rautenberg & Daragh Murray, Making Tangible the Long-Term Harm Linked to the Chilling Effects of AI-enabled Surveillance: Can Human Flourishing Inform Human Rights? (definitely dont vouch for this one)