Police Are Using AI-Powered Bots to Surveil Suspects on Social Media

The police department has signed a company called Massive Blue to use an online persona generated by AI to gather information about suspicious criminals and protesters.

404Media Report The New York-based company called Massive Blue provides American police stations with AI-powered surveillance tools to deploy realistic virtual personas to deploy realistic virtual personas, according to documents obtained through public record requests obtained in 404 media.

A secret technology called Overwatch is sold as an “AI-driven public multiplier” that can penetrate online criminal networks. Police departments pay hundreds of thousands of dollars to access the personalities or bots generated by these AIs, designed to interact with suspected crimes ranging from human trafficking to political activity.

An example of AI persona provided by the large Blue Show internal presentation. This includes an internal presentation of a 36-year-old divorced woman with an interest in activism, a 25-year-old “honeypot” persona of Yemeni descent, a 14-year-old boy, a child trafficking persona, an AI Pimp Persas, and an “Child Trafficking” persona of “Ai Pimp Persote” from “College Portestors” and a “Honeypot” persona of “Yemeni Descent”.

The stated goal is for these AI bots to communicate with suspects via text messages, social media, and encrypted messaging apps to gather intelligence that could lead to arrests. However, the broad range of targets, including suspected criminals along with vaguely defined “protesters,” raises concerns over the threat of First Amendment rights and oversight.

The technology has not led to known arrests, according to public records. The Yuma County Sheriff’s Office in Arizona did not renew its $10,000 pilot contract and said the program “didn’t meet our needs.” Some details about how Overwatch Works is publicly disclosed are claiming that a massive blue cites trade secrets and that police could compromise an investigation.