Bonjour mes amis! I’m sitting in St Pancras, waiting for the Eurostar to Paris. I know it’s not super glamorous, but for a rapidly ageing millennial, gotta say, it still feels glam. I’m giving a talk at Sciences Po on open source information tomorrow, if for some reason you find yourself at a loose end in Paris tomorrow morning, and that’s how you choose to spend it (!), welcome. I am looking forward to a run around Pere Lachaise cemetery tomorrow, and paying my respects to Oscar Wilde. Who doesn’t, i think, get enough respect as one of Ireland’s best.
Before proceeding to the newsletter proper: propaganda corner! I’m involved in the creation and delivery on a brand new course at the International Institute for Humanitarian Law in beautiful Sanremo. The focus is – appropriately enough in the current context – ‘Protection of Civilians’. We’ve got a great crew of instructors, the programme is really solid, participants are always great. And, did i mention its in Sanremo?
So, the newsletter proper. The big news, in the UK at least, and from a facial recognition perspective, is that the Met are installing the first permanent facial recognition cameras in London. It is presumably a first step. I discuss some of the legal and human rights issues in a Modern Law Review piece from last year, and obviously lots more to come in myself and Pete’s book, out July. The EFF also have interesting details on an AI assisted city surveillance network in Nashville. Meanwhile, China is imposing some rules on the use of facial recognition without consent. Not in your hotel room apparently.
Have a lovely week. I shall obviously, and so very predictably, be signing off with Edith Piaf. ‘Padam, Padam’ friends.
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The Register, MPs warn legacy IT could derail UK government’s AI hopes
Financial Times, EU lawmakers warn against ‘dangerous’ moves to water down AI rules
WIRED, How Software Engineers Actually Use AI
The Guardian, Labour head of Commons tech group warns No 10 not to ignore AI concerns
Financial Times, My date used AI to psychologically profile me. Is that OK? (emmmm)
New York Times, A.I. Saved His Life by Discovering New Uses for Old Drugs
Financial Times, AI can help cut time it takes to bring UK criminal cases, says review
WIRED, Satellite Internet Will Enable AI in Everything
WIRED, OpenAI’s Deep Research Agent Is Coming for White-Collar Work (eeek)
BBC, Custody photos too poor for facial recognition technology
RUSI, Airborne Electromagnetic Warfare in NATO: A Critical European Capability Gap
The Times, UK’s first permanent facial recognition cameras installed in London
The HIll, Advocacy groups urge House panel to pass anti-deepfake porn bill
Electronic Frontier Foundation, “Guardrails” Won’t Protect Nashville Residents From AI-Enabled Camera Networks
Financial Times, Pollution-busters look to AI for better speed and accuracy (fight pollution)
Financial Times, Big Tech under pressure to act on data centres’ thirst for water (cause pollution)
WIRED, Inside Google’s Two-Year Frenzy to Catch Up With OpenAI
Business & Human Rights Resource Centre, Greece: Surveillance technologies & “prison-like” conditions violate migrants’ rights at refugee camp, finds report; incl. cos. responses & non-responses
Electronic Frontier Foundation, A Win for Encryption: France Rejects Backdoor Mandate
The Register, China bans facial recognition in hotels, bathrooms
The Guardian, ‘We need to set the terms or we’re all screwed’: how newsrooms are tackling AI’s uncertainties and opportunities
The Guardian, Could AI help us build a more racially just society?
Pulse, How to stop Google from listening to your conversations
Counter Offensive, Inside the first ever all-drone assault by Ukraine
Blogs
EJIL:Talk!, Gaza and the Collective Political Costs of Algorithmic Warfare
Reports
Disclosure in the Digital Age: Independent Review of Disclosure and Fraud Offences – GOV.UK