Greetings fellow geeks, and happy just about the end of May! This year has gone incredibly (and far too) quickly, so far. Here’s hoping for a long languid summer.
As you know, the newsletter has been on hiatus for a few weeks, so trying to cover everything that has happened in that time is just impossible. Or, more accurately, its not a task for me on a Friday afternoon before i head off for a sauna and then drinks.
I will flag a new report by WITNESS on the development of an AI Detection Benchmark, which looks interesting. There is also a bit of facial recognition news that i’ve included below, including the stat that police scanned 4.7 million faces in 2024. Which seems like a lot. It would be really interesting to know the breakdown on arrests, in terms of the types/severity of linked offences, which is of course a really important stat in evaluating the claimed benefit of FRT.
The Economist also has an interesting piece on how drones are being equipped with machine learning technology, to help navigate despite communications jamming, and also to navigate around different types of defences. The FT has more detail.
Former blog contributor Ameneh Deshiri also has a piece in the New Arab raising concerns about the failure to flag hate speech in Arabic and Farsi.
Hope you all have a lovely and restful weekend. I’ll leave ye this week with ‘Ripped Open By Metal Explosions’ from Galt MacDermot. Its much more chilled than it sounds. Don’t worry.
Be well.
—
The New Arab, How safe is our future if AI won’t flag hate in Arabic or Farsi?
The Guardian, Live facial recognition cameras may become ‘commonplace’ as police use soars (not just LFR, but also RFR)
The Hille, Constant surveillance can reduce concentration, memory (totally coincidental placement, honest)
The Guardian, Valuable tool or cause for alarm? Facial ID quietly becoming part of police’s arsenal
The Register, NOLA PD halts facial recognition alerts from private cams
Financial Times, UK must toughen regulation of facial recognition, say AI experts
Big Brother Watch, Asda faces legal complaint after “unlawful” facial recognition trial
BBC, Sex offender spotted in Denmark Hill facial recognition operation
The Independent, Tesco’s ‘VAR-style’ AI is watching your weekly shop (joy)
The Intercept, U.S. Spy Agencies Are Getting a One-Stop Shop to Buy Your Most Sensitive Personal Data
The Irish Times, New social media ‘early warning’ system will alert gardaí to potential crimes
The Guardian, AI to play increasing role in UK armed forces, defence secretary says (“This won’t be a damp squib”… reassuring)
The Economist, Russia is raining hellfire on Ukraine (drones using ML to avoid defenses)
Financial Times, Ukraine’s ‘drone war’ hastens development of autonomous weapons
MIddle East monitor, Microsoft confirms AI, cloud services to Israeli Defense Ministry amid Gaza war scrutiny – Middle East Monitor
Middle East Eye, Google DeepMind UK staff move to unionise to challenge links to Israeli military
The Guardian, New AI test can predict which men will benefit from prostate cancer drug
Computer Weekly, UK Fraud Bill targets benefit claimants for mass surveillance
WIRED, Watch How Smart Devices Spy On Your Home—And How To Avoid It | Incognito Mode
The Guardian, If Keir Starmer is not robotic enough for you, his AI twin is ready for your questions (quite funny)
The Register, When LLMs get personal info they are more persuasive debaters than humans
WIRED, Google’s AI Boss Says Gemini’s New Abilities Point the Way to AGI (i guess they would say that… but Gemini deep research is definitely good)
Washington Post, Google’s all about glasses, starting with this prototype (the advent of these glass is genuinely terrifying from a privacy/surveillance POV)
Washington Post, Judge rejects claim chatbots have free speech in suit over teen’s death
Financial Times, Robot dogs proliferate, from production line to front line
The Conversation, Weaponized storytelling: How AI is helping researchers sniff out disinformation campaigns
The Washington Post, Meta is working on a high-tech helmet for the U.S. military
Blogs
ICRC Humanitarian Law & Policy Blog, The shifting battlefield: technology, tactics, and the risk of blurring lines in warfare
JustSecurity, Q&A with Katherine Keneally: The Future of Terrorism Detection and Analysis
Reports
[2504.21489] TRIED: Truly Innovative and Effective AI Detection Benchmark, developed by WITNESS (report)
Academic Literature
*Disclaimer: The following have not been evaluated for their methodology and do not necessarily reflect the views of the AI & Human Rights Blog
Anny Lysenko & Seva Gunitsky, The invisible front: Ukraine’s it army and the evolution of cyber resistance
Artificial Intelligence, Education and Assessment at UCL Laws
Jessica Dorsey & LLuke Moffett, The Warification of International Humanitarian Law and the Artifice of Artificial Intelligence in Decision-Support Systems: Restoring Balance Through the Legitimacy of Military Operations
Gavin Sullivan & Dimitri Van Den Meersche, The Legal Infrastructures of UK Border Control – Cerberus and the Dispositif of Speculative Suspicion