AI Surveillance: Military-Grade Tech May Now Be Used to Spy on US Civilians, Workers

Many regulators are still against deploying AI surveillance tools to law enforcement and companies. However, a report claimed that military-grade AI could now be used to spy on American civilians.

A Wired report claimed that several AI surveillance tools, often initially developed by defense contractors for intelligence uses, are now being sold to employers.

Some companies have reportedly emerged to sell services like "open source intelligence," "reputation management," and "insider threat assessment," which could be used to breach someone's privacy and security.

Military-Grade AI Surveillance Tools Used to Spy on Civilians?

The Wired report centered on military-grade AI surveillance tools being used to spy on regular civilians, and the public does not know it.

"It's hard to imagine that you are the target of spycraft, but spying on employees is the next frontier of military AI. Surveillance techniques familiar to authoritarian dictatorships have now been repurposed to target American workers," the article noted.

The report said these AI surveillance tools had become dramatically more advanced in the past couple of years, with your boss being able to use data analytics to identify the company's critics, internal leakers, and labor organizing.

AI Surveillance Tools in Workplaces?

According to the article, big companies like Amazon are already monitoring unionization. These AI surveillance tools initially developed to identify terrorist groups can reportedly be used to identify labor organizers, and these employers can illegally fire them even before they can form a union.

The report further noted that using these tools during recruitment may also lead to employers not hiring these organizers in the first place.

These are far from the use of military-grade AI, which was only intended to target America's national enemies. Thus, talks on regulating AI surveillance technologies are a must, and according to Interesting Engineering, safeguards must be put in place to stop its use against citizens.

The Wired report noted that people should "all be concerned by the idea that the same systems can now be widely deployable by anyone able to pay."

Governments Denounce AI Surveillance

Many efforts are in place to stop the use of AI surveillance tools in different parts of the world. The European Parliament overwhelmingly approved the AI Act, which aims to regulate the use of AI in Europe, last week.

On the other hand, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has been eager to end the unfair use of AI and commercial monitoring to protect the public, especially teenagers, on the internet.

According to another WIRED report, the FTC was worried that online tracking could bolster attempts to commit fraud, trick the public into buying products or revealing personal information, and even share location data with law enforcement agencies or foreign governments.

The agency is reportedly mulling over whether it should adopt new laws to regulate personal data collection and the AI fueled by that data. The FTC is now seeking the public's help to answer questions such as whether to extend the definition of discrimination beyond race or gender, among others, to regulate commercial surveillance and AI.

Companies selling military-grade AI surveillance tools are reportedly increasing rapidly. Some even advertise that they will soon include next-generation AI technologies in their surveillance tools, with features that promise to simplify exploring varied data sources through a simple prompt.