<\/p>\n
That\u2019s because until the last several decades, people weren\u2019t generating massive clouds of data that opened up new possibilities for surveillance. The Fourth Amendment, which protects against unreasonable search and seizure, was written when collecting information meant entering people\u2019s homes.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Subsequent laws, like the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 or the Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986, were passed when surveillance involved wiretapping phone calls and intercepting emails. The bulk of laws governing surveillance were on the books before the internet took off. We weren\u2019t generating vast trails of online data, and the government didn\u2019t have sophisticated tools to analyze the data.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Now we do, and AI supercharges what kind of surveillance can be carried out. \u201cWhat AI can do is it can take a lot of information, none of which is by itself sensitive, and therefore none of which by itself is regulated, and it can give the government a lot of powers that the government didn\u2019t have before,\u201d says Rozenshtein.\u00a0<\/p>\n
AI can aggregate individual pieces of information to spot patterns, draw inferences, and build detailed profiles of people\u2014at massive scale. And as long as the government collects the information lawfully, it can do whatever it wants with that information, including feeding it to AI systems. \u201cThe law has not caught up with technological reality,\u201d says Rozenshtein.<\/p>\n
While surveillance can raise serious privacy concerns, the Pentagon can have legitimate national security interests in collecting and analyzing data on Americans. \u201cIn order to collect information on Americans, it has to be for a very specific subset of missions,\u201d says Loren Voss, a former military intelligence officer at the Pentagon.\u00a0<\/p>\n
For example, a counterintelligence mission might require information about an American who is working for a foreign country, or plotting to engage in international terrorist activities. But targeted intelligence can sometimes stretch into collecting more data. \u201cThis kind of collection does make people nervous,\u201d says Voss.\u00a0<\/p>\n
OpenAI says its contract now includes language that says the company\u2019s AI system \u201cshall not be intentionally used for domestic surveillance of U.S. persons and nationals,\u201d in line with relevant laws. The amendment clarifies that this prohibits \u201cdeliberate tracking, surveillance or monitoring of U.S. persons or nationals, including through the procurement or use of commercially acquired personal or identifiable information.\u201d<\/p>\n
But the added language might not do much to override the clause that the Pentagon may use the company\u2019s AI system for all lawful purposes, which could include collecting and analyzing sensitive personal information. \u201cOpenAI can say whatever it wants in its agreement\u2026 but the Pentagon\u2019s gonna use the tech for what it perceives to be lawful,\u201d which could include domestic surveillance, says Jessica Tillipman, a law professor at the George Washington University Law School. \u201cMost of the time, companies are not going to be able to stop the Pentagon from doing anything.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
#Pentagon #allowed #surveil #Americans<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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