When this year’s Summer Olympics kicks off in Paris, France next week, nearly 100 floats filled with the world’s leading athletes are expected to chug their way across the Seine River. Around half a million fans will cheer as their nation’s sporting ambassadors pass their way through the Louvre, by the Eiffel Tower, and a travel guide book worth of other historical monuments. But fans won’t be the only ones watching. Thousands of CCTV cameras overlooking the river will monitor the proceedings in real-time. Behind the scenes, powerful new artificial intelligence models will churn through the footage searching for any signs of danger hidden in the crowds. The controversial new AI-enabled surveillance system, which critics argue may violate broader European Union privacy laws, is one of several ways France is using technology to make this year’s Olympic Games one of the most tightly monitored in memory.
AI surveillance will look for crowd disturbances
French lawmakers passed a new law late last year temporarily granting law enforcement the ability to use “experimental” artificial intelligence algorithms to monitor public video feeds and provide “real-time crowd analyses.” In practice, the AI detection models will reportedly parse through the feeds of thousands of CCTV cameras looking for signs of potentially dangerous anomalies hidden within the Olympic crowd. Those warning signs could include people wielding weapons, larger than expected crowds, fights and brawls, and unattended luggage.
France is partnering with a number of tech companies for the AI analsyes including Wintics, Videtics, Orange Business, and ChapsVision. Law enforcement have already tested the new system in some subway…
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