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AI startup Flock thinks it can eliminate all crime in America

forbes.com

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Re: AI startup Flock thinks it can eliminate all crime in America

#21
post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The difference being that you won't get self-driving cars any time soon (at least a decade away), while countries and cities such as China, Singapore, Dubai and London already have mass surveillance at an unprecedented scale. Personal freedoms are already being infringed upon in these countries, and saying the wrong thing publicly will land you behind bars.

Oh yeah sure they have the mass surveillance, did they "eradicate crime" though? The US can already be defined as a surveillance state in many aspects, and it could be made muche worse for sure, what I doubt is that it'll solve criminality

No, mass surveillance will never eradicate crimes.

UK (or London) has about 99% coverage. It means jack shit without enforcement, and let me tell you, there are many streets out there with junkies smoking crack without any issues.

My girlfriend in LA is scared to go to the bus stop. There used to be two drunks around noon, and now they even set up a camp and there are more people. Cops are doing fuck all about it.

CCTVs mean nothing.

Re: AI startup Flock thinks it can eliminate all crime in America

#22

This is not a new startup. It predates the AI era. This is the company that installs cameras in public places and wires them all together with data sharing arrangements that circumvent those pesky jurisdictional separations of power. And guess which neighborhoods have the most cameras? It’s a pre-crime company and data broker that sells to police forces and corporations (while sharing all the data between them). It’s…

I once read an article about a company that was using low flying planes and cameras. The goal was to be able to record and rewind video and then follow robbers back to their homes. Robberies are a big problem in LATAM. It could be very useful.

You're likely thinking of Persistent Surveillance Systems: https://www.pss-1.com

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gorgon_Stare

Re: AI startup Flock thinks it can eliminate all crime in America

#25
post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The difference being that you won't get self-driving cars any time soon (at least a decade away), while countries and cities such as China, Singapore, Dubai and London already have mass surveillance at an unprecedented scale. Personal freedoms are already being infringed upon in these countries, and saying the wrong thing publicly will land you behind bars.

Oh yeah sure they have the mass surveillance, did they "eradicate crime" though? The US can already be defined as a surveillance state in many aspects, and it could be made muche worse for sure, what I doubt is that it'll solve criminality

Nazi Germany, with the most repressive police state in history, couldn’t. The criminals just learned to work within the shadow of the Gestapo.

Stalin’s USSR couldn’t, but they made it illegal to admit crime existed, so maybe that “worked”?

Re: AI startup Flock thinks it can eliminate all crime in America

#26
post #4

My housemate's car was stolen in Atlanta, and because of Flock the police were able to get it and return it the same day he reported it missing. He was even able to get to work on time.

My step-dad's truck was stolen and the police we able to recover it in minutes as the thieves pushed it around the corner and couldn't get it started so just left it there.

Sometimes the police just get lucky...

Re: AI startup Flock thinks it can eliminate all crime in America

#28

Flock is driving the following future: "It’s a paradigm shift where we go from having an expectation of privacy even in public spaces to its inverse. Not only do we not have a right to privacy in public; we don’t even have a right to see ourselves as the government and police might see us — a set of still moments in place and time from which they, not us, can decide what our story is." https://cardinalnews.org/2025/0…

Our politics has gotten bizarre, I know Republicans are taking an anti-crime stance, but like isn’t also Republicans advocating for like diminished state capacity and a sovereign citizen type status? January 6th, proud boys, the Malheur National Wildlife refuge occupation. Time for a multitude of Ruby Ridges I guess.

Only in the abstract / around election time, much in the same way they run on cutting taxes for the poor and middle class. There are Republican run states that do better on certain diminished state capacity things like zoning (Texas) or 2nd amendment rights, but surveillance, rights of the accused, free speech rights, right to repair, etc are largely worse under Republican governments.

See for example the Patriot Act

Re: AI startup Flock thinks it can eliminate all crime in America

#30

Through conversion to a total surveillance state. This does not account for any crime committed outside of public spaces: White collar crime and embezzlement Murder in private places Sexual assault in private places Domestic abuse Illegal drug use Insurance fraud Wage theft Off the top of my head

> This does not account for any crime committed outside of public space

Do you have any reason to believe that the next steps won't be surveillance in unambiguously private spaces under the cover of "AI eliminates the privacy problem with surveillance"?

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