'Get the Flock out': Americans respond to AI cameras in bipartisan backlash

Standing near a nondescript black pole topped with a solar panel on a leafy side street lined by family homes in an Atlanta exurb, Noah* confesses that he feels an immense sense of disquiet as the US heads into the midterm elections. “I truly think that this is the most observed that Americans have ever been in political history. And I think that Flock is a massive step into these surveillance states that we have the ability to decide whether or not we are okay with,” said the 27-year-old software engineer. “Flock” refers to a brand of AI-driven surveillance cameras produced by Atlanta-based company Flock Safety, which was started in 2017 by three alumni of the Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly called Georgia Tech. The cameras scan licence plates and capture, analyse and store details of passing vehicles, including location, time, car models and bumper stickers. The surveillance cameras emerged as a lightning-rod campaign issue across the US amid a backlash against AI, alarm over the sweeping power of the technology and questions about the unchecked growth of the industry as President Donald Trump pushes a pro-tech agenda. Watch moreAI on the ballot? Voters in US midterms r...