The Deep View: AI and surveillance

Posted on August 14, 2025 by michelleclarke2015

1. The surveillance state goes AI
2. U.S. authorities are hiding trackers in AI chip shipments to catch smugglers
3. Google drops $9b on Oklahoma for AI infrastructure
 GOVERNMENT The surveillance state goes AIThe LAPD’s interest in GeoSpy, an AI tool that can pinpoint photo locations in seconds, might sound like science fiction, but it’s just the latest example of how AI has quietly become the backbone of American law enforcement and intelligence operations.

GeoSpy can analyze soil, architecture and other visual features to determine exactly where a photo was taken, sometimes down to specific addresses.

Internal emails show an LAPD Robbery-Homicide division official expressing interest in the $5,000-per-year tool, which provides 350 searches annually. GeoSpy represents just one piece of a much larger transformation accelerating across federal, state and local agencies.

At the highest levels of government, AI adoption has reached a fever pitch.The CIA has developed its own large language model called Osiris, which runs on unclassified data and helps analysts write summaries and conduct queries.

The NSA has integrated AI into signals intelligence missions, using machine learning for speaker identification, translation of over 90 languages, and pattern detection in massive datasets.

Local law enforcement has embraced similar capabilities through companies like Palantir, whose Gotham platform has been used for predictive policing in cities including Los Angeles, New Orleans and Chicago.

Facial recognition has exploded across law enforcement where Clearview AI has scraped billions of photos from social media and partnered with over 3,100 federal and local agencies — far more than the FBI’s own database of 640 million photos.

The Biden administration tried to rein in AI use with a March 2024 policy requiring federal agencies to conduct impact assessments before deploying “rights-impacting” AI technologies. Intelligence agencies like the CIA and NSA are largely exempt, and the policy doesn’t cover state and local police, and we’ve documented concerns about AI report writing.

The Trump administration appears poised to accelerate AI adoption. Palantir’s stock has soared on expectations of expanded government contracts, particularly for immigration enforcement, where the company’s software can “predict movements and patterns” of individuals using tax records, employment data, and family information.If algorithms can instantly geolocate photos, predict future crimes and assign risk scores to individuals, the presumption of innocence begins to erode. These systems are being deployed rapidly with minimal public debate and little understanding of their long-term implications. What started with basic facial recognition has evolved into comprehensive digital monitoring that would have been unimaginable a decade ago. Democracy requires transparent institutions, not algorithmic black boxes making life-altering decisions about who deserves scrutiny.
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About michelleclarke2015

Life event that changes all: Horse riding accident in Zimbabwe in 1993, a fractured skull et al including bipolar anxiety, chronic fatigue …. co-morbidities (Nietzche 'He who has the reason why can deal with any how' details my health history from 1993 to date). 17th 2017 August operation for breast cancer (no indications just an appointment came from BreastCheck through the Post). Trinity College Dublin Business Economics and Social Studies (but no degree) 1997-2003; UCD 1997/1998 night classes) essays, projects, writings. Trinity Horizon Programme 1997/98 (Centre for Women Studies Trinity College Dublin/St. Patrick's Foundation (Professor McKeon) EU Horizon funded: research study of 15 women (I was one of this group and it became the cornerstone of my journey to now 2017) over 9 mth period diagnosed with depression and their reintegration into society, with special emphasis on work, arts, further education; Notes from time at Trinity Horizon Project 1997/98; Articles written for Irishhealth.com 2003/2004; St Patricks Foundation monthly lecture notes for a specific period in time; Selection of Poetry including poems written by people I know; Quotations 1998-2017; other writings mainly with theme of social justice under the heading Citizen Journalism Ireland. Letters written to friends about life in Zimbabwe; Family history including Michael Comyn KC, my grandfather, my grandmother's family, the O'Donnellan ffrench Blake-Forsters; Moral wrong: An acrimonious divorce but the real injustice was the Catholic Church granting an annulment – you can read it and make your own judgment, I have mine. Topics I have written about include annual Brain Awareness week, Mashonaland Irish Associataion in Zimbabwe, Suicide (a life sentence to those left behind); Nostalgia: Tara Hill, Co. Meath.
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