Panel “Affective Surveillance through Emotional AI in Smart Cities – Policing & Security”

Citation

Miranda D, Urquhart L, McStay A, Bakir V & Mantello P (2022) Panel “Affective Surveillance through Emotional AI in Smart Cities – Policing & Security”. 9th Biannual Surveillance and Society Conference - SSN 2022, Rotterdam, 01.06.2022-03.06.2022. https://www.eur.nl/en/eshcc/research/ssn-2022/conference-programme

Abstract
Emotional AI (EAI) technologies are emerging in our daily lives in both public and domestic spaces. EAI enables new forms of emotion based surveillance through advances in machine learning and biometrics. Techniques such as off body facial feature sensing and sentiment analysis seek to infer intent of subjects; and on body physiological sensors reading heart rate and galvanic skin responses seek to more intimately interpret mental state. Such technologies are emerging as new analytic layers in a range of domestic applications, such as wearables and smart toys and scale to wider scale uses in edtech, public space advertising and policing. We are concerned about the role of emotion sensing technologies in mediating our everyday lives, particularly as the scientific models of emotion underpinning these systems are contested. The regulatory challenges, the democratic implications, and need to understand how EAI changes the nature of state and private surveillance are all key areas of concern. The panellists will discuss the implications of using EAI in different settings, particularly for commercial, civic, security and policing. They will present both the ‘big picture’ of how these technologies have emerged, provide examples of their use, and highlight key concerns to date and present complementary empirical and conceptual research activities. This includes on: UK police perspectives on use of EAI; how EAI is going to be integrated into the automotive sector; and its role in microtargeting and social media disinformation. The group of panellists is highly interdisciplinary, bringing perspectives from criminology, sociology, law, computer science, media and journalism. The panel will raise awareness of how EAI is being used to detect behaviour and the ethical, legal, and socio-technical questions that need to be addressed. The panellists will also draw on their engagement with diverse EAI and smart city stakeholders in both UK and Japan including industry, policymakers, policing practitioners, civil society and citizens. Ultimately, this discussion contributes to ongoing debates in surveillance studies, namely in relation to urban surveillance and biometrics, and how to ‘live well’ with emerging affective surveillance technologies.

Keywords
AI; policing; emotions; technology