Inside China’s Dystopian Dreams: A.I., Shame and Lots of Cameras

In the Chinese city of Zhengzhou, a police officer wearing facial recognition glasses spotted a heroin smuggler at a train station.

In Qingdao, a city famous for its German colonial heritage, cameras powered by artificial intelligence helped the police snatch two dozen criminal suspects in the midst of a big annual beer festival.

In Wuhu, a fugitive murder suspect was identified by a camera as he bought food from a street vendor.

With millions of cameras and billions of lines of code, China is building a high-tech authoritarian future. Beijing is embracing technologies like facial recognition and artificial intelligence to identify and track 1.4 billion people. It wants to assemble a vast and unprecedented national surveillance system, with crucial help from its thriving technology industry.

“In the past, it was all about instinct,” said Shan Jun, the deputy chief of the police at the railway station in Zhengzhou, where the heroin smuggler was caught. “If you missed something, you missed it.”

China is reversing the commonly held vision of technology as a great democratizer, bringing people more freedom and connecting them to the world. In China, it has brought control.

In some cities, cameras scan train stations for China’s most wanted. Billboard-sized displays show the faces of jaywalkers and list the names of people who can’t pay their debts. Facial recognition scanners guard the entrances to housing complexes. Already, China has an estimated 200 million surveillance cameras — four times as many as the United States.

Not satisfied with encouraging illegal immigration in the USA, the NYT wants China to stop catching so many of its criminals.

2 posted on 07/08/2018 5:17:04 PM PDT by libertylover (I'm not arguing with you; I'm just explaining why I'm right and you're wrong.)

Inside RED China’s Dystopian Dreams: A.I., Shame and Lots of Cameras

3 posted on 07/08/2018 5:17:50 PM PDT by BenLurkin (The above is not a statement of fact. It is either satire or opinion. Or both.)

its criminals

Like advocates of democracy or a free press or various religions or minority rights or worker's rights, etc.

Did I miss a memo? Does Trumpianism now require full support of everything coughed up by Red China?

4 posted on 07/08/2018 5:20:22 PM PDT by Tax-chick (Fill in my standard rant.)

China is reversing the commonly held vision of technology as a great democratizer, bringing people more freedom and connecting them to the world. In China, it has brought control. …

And that is exactly what the NY Slimes wants for the USA, through supporting, hyping and promoting lying people such as Ocasio-Cortez and the rest of her party.

5 posted on 07/08/2018 5:23:45 PM PDT by Olog-hai ("No Republican, no matter how liberal, is going to woo a Democratic vote." -- Ronald Reagan, 1960)

Already, China has an estimated 200 million surveillance cameras — four times as many as the United States.

They have about three times as many people, so the disparity is really not very great. Be afraid.

6 posted on 07/08/2018 5:33:06 PM PDT by ClearCase_guy (If you beleive the dog, then take his advice.)

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.