The Follower gives us a taste of how far-reaching AI surveillance can be. The Follower is an AI surveillance project by Dries Depoorter, who has used AI surveillance to monitor politicians on their phones in the past. In this project, Depoorter’s AI scours Instagrammers with a sizeable following (more than 100,000 followers) who have recently posted pictures in public places. After that, his AI scans open camera feeds of the same public places to “hunt” the same Instagrammers, and then publishes the behind-the-scenes CCTV footage of their posts. Read full article here
Societal Issues
To curb drug deaths, communities turn to Reddit, texts and wastewater
With drug overdose deaths on the rise, authorities are attempting to curb the epidemic by tracking and sharing information in real time. In one unique effort, a nonprofit in New York City is using drug-testing equipment and stamping or marking habits of dealers to identify drug batches that may endanger users. Other approaches are also being used, such as monitoring drug-related chatter on Reddit and analyzing local wastewater for opioid and other drug levels. With the combination of these efforts, researchers hope to put a dent in the opioid crisis and reduce overdose deaths. Read full article here
Merv
June 1, 2023
