Abandoned luggage and unexpected crowds - real-time cameras will use artificial intelligence (AI) to detect suspicious activity on the streets of Paris during next summer’s Olympics. But civil rights groups say the technology is a threat to civil liberties, as the BBC’s Hugh Schofield reports.
“We are not China; we do not want to be Big Brother,” says François Mattens, whose Paris-based AI company is bidding for part of the Olympics video surveillance contract.
Under a recent law, police will be able to use CCTV algorithms to pick up anomalies such as crowd rushes, fights or unattended bags.
The law explicitly rules out using facial recognition technology, as adopted by China, for example, in order to trace “suspicious” individuals.
But opponents say it is a thin end of the wedge. Even though the experimental period allowed by the law ends in March 2025, they fear the French government’s real aim is to make the new security provisions permanent.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
Abandoned luggage and unexpected crowds - real-time cameras will use artificial intelligence (AI) to detect suspicious activity on the streets of Paris during next summer’s Olympics.
“We are not China; we do not want to be Big Brother,” says François Mattens, whose Paris-based AI company is bidding for part of the Olympics video surveillance contract.
Even though the experimental period allowed by the law ends in March 2025, they fear the French government’s real aim is to make the new security provisions permanent.
“We expect the government to want the AI to be able to detect fire, fighting, people on the ground and abandoned luggage,” says XXII’s François Mattens.
But according to digital rights activist Noémie Levain, this is only a “narrative” that developers are using to sell their product - knowing full well that the government will almost certainly favour French companies over foreign firms when it comes to awarding the Olympics contracts.
"AI video monitoring is a surveillance tool which allows the state to analyse our bodies, our behaviour, and decide whether it is normal or suspicious.
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