How to Apply the 'Tyrant Test' to Technology

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Just last week, the Department of Homeland Security released its latest AI inventory, revealing more than 200 AI use cases deployed or in development—an almost 40% increase since July. ICE alone has added 24 new AI applications, including tools to process tips, review social media and mobile device data, and deploy facial recognition to confirm identities. At least 23 applications use some form of facial recognition or biometric identification.

As the New York Times recently reported on Friday, tech companies are enabling a surveillance infrastructure that can target anyone for profit while challenging constitutional principles. And we have few laws that are fit to regulate it.

This is exactly the trap my guest today has been warning us about. In his forthcoming book, Your Data Will Be Used Against You, George Washington University Law School professor Andrew Guthrie Ferguson explores how the rise of sensor-driven technologies, social media monitoring, and artificial intelligence can be weaponized against democratic values and personal freedoms. Smart cars, smart homes, smart watches—these devices track our most private activities, and that data can be accessed by police and prosecutors looking for incriminating clues.

The book is out March 17 from NYU Press and is available for preorder today.

A transcript of this discussion is forthcoming.