Oracle has just released its latest financial results. And in front of a panel of analysts, Larry Ellison had more than justified reasons to be exultant. Without making too much noise, the company is one of the fastest growing in the Big Tech sector and, what is more interesting, Oracle has become one of the most important organizations in the world. in the field of Artificial Intelligence. The recent collaboration agreements signed with AWS and Microsoft allow it to advance even further in this field.
That is why it has been surprising that at a time of widespread enthusiasm, Ellison has entered into a field as thorny as that of citizen surveillance. He explained in this regard that he imagines a future in which every police officer could be equipped with a surveillance camera, creating a vast network fed with AI capabilities.
“Every police officer is going to be monitored at all times, and if there is a problem, the AI will report that problem and communicate it to the right person. Citizens will behave in the best way because we are constantly recording and reporting everything that happens,” he assured. The founder of Oracle has assured that the system will not only serve to prevent the crime rate and therefore make “the United States a safer country,” but will also be a safeguard to avoid police abuse, so that these cameras could not be turned off at any time.
The truth is that there is no evidence (quite the contrary) that AI is currently playing a significant role in improving citizen security. And as various studies suggest, the fact that these algorithms are trained with data coming precisely from the police departments themselves tends to increase existing biases and discrimination against the most vulnerable population groups.
It is no secret that AI is already widely used by authoritarian regimes to increase control over their citizens, establishing mass surveillance policies. What is more novel, however, is that this capacity of AI to control citizens has been blessed by the founder of Oracle, who has confessed to being more than willing to join this cause… for the safety of everyone.