When government sets out to marry its limitless appetite for social control with the seemingly limitless computing power of artificial intelligence, the end result is destined to be Orwell’s “thought crime,” a concept which was previously exclusively in the domain of speculative fiction, becoming reality. . Life imitates art, it seems.
Customs and Border Protection (CBP), under the umbrella of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), has partnered with an AI technology company called Fivecast to deploy social media monitoring software that, according to its owner, allegedly detects “problems”. emotions of social media users and subsequently reports them to law enforcement for further action.
Outlet 404, through FOIA requests, discovered several marketing documents from Fivecast that elaborated on the utility of its software for law enforcement.
Route 404:
Customs and Border Protection (CBP), part of the Department of Homeland Security, has bought software worth millions of dollars from a company that uses artificial intelligence to detect “sentiment and emotion” in online posts, according to a memo pile of documents…
CBP told 404 Media that it is using technology to analyze open source information related to inbound and outbound travelers that the agency believes may threaten public safety, national security or lawful trade and travel. In this case, the specific company called Fivecast also offers “AI-enabled” object recognition in images and videos, and detection of “risky terms and phrases” in multiple languages, according to one of the documents.