France Is Using AI Surveillance Systems To Secure Paris Olympics

The Paris Summer Olympic 2024 has had about 28 million viewers tune in to watch the opening ceremony. In person, the event is set to witness an estimated 16 million sports enthusiasts flocking the French capital.

Securing Paris has become a massive challenge for the French authorities amidst rising threats to the mega event, especially in the backdrop of two global wars that are ongoing in Gaza and Ukraine. According to an AP report, 45000 police personnels and 10,000 soldiers were deployed for the opening ceremony. But what has stood out in the government's response has been the use of Artificial Intelligence for surveillance purposes.

According to a report in Bloomberg Law, The AI system being deployed uses an algorithm to screen CCTV footage from across the French capital to detect any suspicious movements- like persons moving in the opposite direction to the crowd or carrying a gun.

French authorities have allowed AI surveillance at the Paris Olympics using a special law that is only applicable for a specific time period. Although temporary, this decision marks the first time an event of such massive scale has deployed an AI system for surveillance activity.

The AI system does not collect biometric data, but instead recognises individuals in crowds using unique identification. The algorithm captures and processes the unique physiology of persons and identifies behavior that is suspicious.

AI surveillance tools often require collection of biometric data. Studies have shown as low as 0.1 percent efficiency or performing certain types of crime identification. Concerns about inherent bias built into the system through training sets has also raised questions regarding deploying these Ai systems.

Apart from these, there is also the difficulty in establishing different cultural norms for an event that draws people from around the world.

In India, AI systems have made their way to the policing systems. An AI enabled video analytics platform dubbed "Jarvis" has been deployed by the Uttar Pradesh Police. The platform monitors real-time CCTV footage from 700 operative cameras across state prisons. Elsewhere, AI technologies have also been used in Drone systems in India, mainly for military and security surveillance.