Houston police’s $178,000 AI facial surveillance technology approved, but privacy and racial discrimination concerns raised

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — The Houston City Council voted Wednesday to expand the Houston Police Department’s use of artificial intelligence (AI) in video surveillance.

The one-year deal, worth nearly $178,000, was with Airship AI Holdings, Inc. The company will install 64 cameras throughout the city and provide more server space. How and where they will be placed remains to be determined.

HPD requested and recommended the agreement, which raised some concerns.

“I’m for less crime, but privacy is very important and needs to be preserved,” John Zandi said when ABC13 asked him about the new cameras.

Carroll Robinson, a professor at Texas Southern University and former city council member, predicts trouble.

“An innocent person, misidentified, not by a real person but by a camera, ends up in the criminal justice system and incarcerated in the county jail,” he said.

Robinson and his colleague, Dr. Michael O. Adams, have called for national legislation to protect against racial discrimination using AI.

Only Airship AI Holdings can provide technical support.

“So no one can look at him and examine him to make sure what he says is what he actually does?” » asked Robinson.

This is an ongoing debate across the country. How well does facial recognition work? Who will direct the cameras?

Some people see the benefit of a city with a police department that struggles to recruit and constantly faces a high crime rate.

“If it could recognize people as they are, it could reduce the amount of time they have to spend identifying or tracing people, so I think that would be a good thing overall,” Ashton said Argo for support.

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