Greetings all, and happy heat wave. I hope you are all healthy, hydrated, and in close proximity to a cold ice cream, beer, or plunge pool, as the mood takes you.
This week our naughty facial recognition corner crosses the Atlantic, with the news that ICE – in addition to quite a few other shenanigans – is using a facial recognition app to identify people. What. Could. Possibly. Go. Wrong? The Register also has a piece about Iceland’s (the frozen food supermarket) decision to trial facial recognition tech. It has the annoying claim that ‘innocent shoppers aren’t monitored’ despite the fact that they are obviously subject to biometric processing, and may be affected by any false positives. And, food delivery companies are stepping up use of facial recognition in the UK.
Its not quite facial recognition, but still potentially naughty step material: LIberty Investigates and iNews have a piece on Bedfordshire police using Palantir crime fighting software, which also looks into … people’s sex lives. There may be privacy, and freedom of expression (and…) concerns. Sarah Brayne has a really good book on the use of Palantir by LAPD, its particularly good – i thought – at detailing the level of information that these systems can reveal. There are obviously important discussions to be had about the necessity test in relation to the investigation of crime, and also the potential for errors and misplaced inferences in these systems, as well as – of course – potential chilling effects in terms of how behaviour might be induced with respect to individuals engaging with government services.
I’ve been doing some additional research on military AI, ahead of a few talks, workshops and a paper over the coming months. The Guardian has a good piece on the – incredibly fast – development of autonomous (or at least semi-autonomous) drones in Ukraine and Russia. Worth your time. If thats your thing, here’s a Palantir propaganda video setting out there battlefield AI system. Bear in mind its two years old, and that is a very long time in battlefield AI years. Its also worth taking a look into Griselda, which appears to be a very similar system developed by Ukraine. Defense One also has a piece reporting that the US Director of National Intelligence wants to build less tools in-house. Which is quite the take.
If you are interested in open source and human rights/international crime investigations (and why wouldn’t you be!) colleagues (and friends) at UC Berkeley are running a course in The Hague from September 22–26 (registration ends soon ish).
Life has been very hectic the last while, so i’m going to leave you with some Nick Drake (because soooo calming). Its ‘Northern Sky’.
Stay well, stay lovely.
And i guess, stay cool!
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MIT Tech Review, Why the AI moratorium’s defeat may signal a new political era
WIRED, ICE Rolls Facial Recognition Tools Out to Officers’ Phones
iNews, Police use controversial AI tool that looks at people’s sex lives and beliefs
The Guardian, Robot surgery on humans could be trialled within decade after success on pig organs
WIRED, Here’s What Mark Zuckerberg Is Offering Top AI Talent | WIRED
The Guardian, Revealed: spies for hire used ‘Big Brother’ tactics on salmon farm activists | Surveillance
The Guardian, Is surveillance by private operators legal in the UK?
The Guardian, Tech firms suggested placing trackers under offenders’ skin at meeting with justice secretary
EU Observer, Max Schrems — Europe’s data fighter
The New York Times, Defeat of a 10-Year Ban on State A.I. Laws Is a Blow to Tech Industry
404 Media, ICE Is Using a New Facial Recognition App to Identify People, Leaked Emails Show
Big Brother Watch, WRONGLY banned from Home Bargains by facial recognition
The Guardian, Killing machines: how Russia and Ukraine’s race to perfect deadly pilotless drones could harm us all
Defense ONe, US spy chief wants intel community to get away from building its own tech (quite the surprising take)
Rest Of World, Can the Gulf buy its way to AI supremacy?
WIRED, ICE Rolls Facial Recognition Tools Out to Officers’ Phones
Financial Times, Meta seeks $29bn from private credit giants to fund AI data centres (so. Much. cash.)
Financial Times, Inside the British lab growing a biological computer
The Guardian, Microsoft says AI system better than doctors at diagnosing complex health conditions
The Guardian, Gov.uk smartphone app to launch with limited functionality (sometimes a headline can say a lot)
WIRED, Cloudflare Is Blocking AI Crawlers by Default
The Hill, Blackout risks rising as AI, reindustrialization push strain grid
Rest of World, Brazil wants to be a sustainable data center hub. Environmentalists are skeptical
MIT Tech Review, Google’s electricity demand is skyrocketing
Financial Times, US utilities plot big rise in electricity rates as data centre demand booms
The Hill, MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell’s attorneys fined for inaccurate, AI-generated brief
Digital Rights Monitor, Rights groups sound alarm on Pakistan’s Digital Nation Bill
The Register, Privacy activists unmoved despite Met’s 1,000 LFR arrests
BBC, Facial recognition cameras helps make 1,000 arrests, Met says
BBC, Met uses new tool to record bruising on dark skin
The Guardian, UK food delivery firms step up checks after claims of illegal workers
Financial Times, I’m human. Are you? The battle for our online identity
WIRED, From Sensual Butt Songs to Santa’s Alleged Coke Habit: AI Slop Music Is Getting Harder to Avoid (OK, this is here for the headline)
The Washington Post, ‘It’s almost like we never even spoke’: AI is making everyone on dating apps sound charming
The Guardian, Wimbledon chiefs defend AI use as Jack Draper says line calls not ‘100% accurate’ (i love to be topical)
Financial Times, Why it is vital that you understand the infrastructure behind AI
The Guardian, How terrorist groups are leveraging AI to recruit and finance their operations
The Guardian, AI scammer posing as Marco Rubio targets officials in growing threat
The Guardian, UK government’s deal with Google ‘dangerously naive’, say campaigners
WIRED, A New Kind of AI Model Lets Data Owners Take Control
The Conversation, The AI therapist will see you now: Can chatbots really improve mental health?
MIT Tech Review, How generative AI could help make construction sites safer
Blogs
EJIL:Talk! Brussels Mirage: The EU AI Act’s Subtle Shine across International Borders
DLA Piper, Exploring the AI landscape from policy to practice
Just Security, AI Copyright Wars Threaten U.S. Technological Primacy in the Face of Rising Chinese Competition
NRF LLP, Texas Responsible Artificial Intelligence Governance Act
Google Blogs, New AI tools for mental health research and treatment
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
Jessica Dorsey & Marta Bo, ‘AI-Enabled Decision-Support Systems in the Joint Targeting Cycle: Legal Challenges, Risks, and the Human(e) Dimension‘ (2025) 106 International Law Studies