The all-seeing AI webcam | The Vergecast

Dre Porter's Work with AI and Surveillance

• Dre Porter is an artist who works with technology, blending electronics, art, and outlandish concepts.
• He often combines two bad ideas to create a good one.

Dre's Projects

• Dre created an interactive exhibit called "Recharge" where a phone charger only works when the user's eyes are closed.
• He also made a website that allows users to post anything they want, but only if they have more followers on X than the previous poster.
• Dre created a limited-edition clock called "Short Life" that shows the percentage of a person's life that has already been lived.
• He developed an app called "Die With Me" that allows users to chat with others only when their phone battery is below 5%.
• Dre created a project called "The Follower" which used facial recognition to match social media photos with open webcam footage.
• He was inspired to create a project that automatically detects jaywalkers using computer vision algorithms from the open-source library OpenCV.
• Dre used Python and OpenCV to create a system that identifies red or green traffic lights and detects people crossing the road.
• He then created an interactive installation called "Jaywalking" where visitors can report jaywalkers by pressing a button, which sends an email to the closest police station with a screenshot of the jaywalker.
• The installation was exhibited in Belgium and the Netherlands, and Dre collected data on how many people pressed the button.
• Dre has also created other projects using AI and surveillance, including an exhibit that tracks celebrities and another that searches for an anonymous man.
• These projects are physical installations that run indefinitely in galleries, constantly searching for their targets.
• Dre's projects raise questions about the ethical implications of using AI and surveillance.
• Dre created a project that showed Belgian politicians on their phones, and a person from France wanted to buy the software to use on their employees.
• Dre was surprised by this request and didn't know how to respond.
• Dre is currently experimenting with voice cloning and open-source AI models.
• He created a project called "Selfie Coach" which uses Kylie Jenner's voice to give advice on how to improve selfies.
• Dre, the creator of the AI webcam project, uses ChatGPT and a voice cloning service to create a humorous and insightful commentary on a photo.
• The voice cloning service is trained on half an hour of audio, allowing it to produce any sentence in that person's voice.
• Dre is exploring the potential of these tools and how they can be used to create unique and engaging content.
• Dre is also working on a generative dating app, but he is not yet revealing details about it.

Dre's Inspiration and Concerns

• Dre's work often involves simple, clever ideas brought to life through tinkering.
• The inspiration for "Die With Me" came from Dre's experience of being lost in a city with a dead phone battery.
• Dre, a creative professional, has a strong interest in AI and surveillance, which he developed after discovering a website called "Showen."
• "Showen" is a search engine that indexes machines on the internet, allowing users to find open cameras, including those in private spaces like living rooms and doggy daycares.
• This discovery sparked a concern for the speaker, who worries about the potential for their own devices to be broadcasting without their knowledge, especially in the context of AI companies collecting vast amounts of data.
• The speaker acknowledges the potential for AI companies to use this data for various purposes, including training their algorithms, but expresses concern about the lack of control over how this data is used.
• The speaker compares the situation to being in Time Square, where it's inevitable to be captured on camera, highlighting the increasing pervasiveness of surveillance and the potential for personal data to be used without consent.
• Dre's work, which explores the intersection of AI and surveillance, resonates with the speaker's concerns and inspires them to delve deeper into these issues.
• Dre deporter, an artist and engineer, discovered a treasure trove of unsecured webcam footage and used it to create projects.
• The project was inspired by an experience in Portugal where Dre and his friends noticed people taking selfies and wondered if they could find those photos on social media.
• Dre's software analyzes camera footage from public locations and matches faces with Instagram photos tagged with the same location.
• The project has generated a lot of interest and discussion, with some people expressing concern about the implications for privacy and anonymity.
• Dre emphasizes that his project is relatively simple and limited in scope, but he acknowledges that it raises questions about the potential for more powerful and invasive surveillance technologies.
• The conversation highlights the growing reality of facial recognition technology and its potential for both positive and negative uses.
• The text also mentions Clearview AI, a company that created a facial recognition database, as an example of how this technology is already being used in ways that raise privacy concerns.

The Vergecast

• The Vergecast is a podcast produced by The Verge.
• Listeners can call the hotline at 866-Verge-111.
• The show is produced by Andrew Marino, Liam James, and Will Por.
• This episode was edited by Xander Adams.
• The Vergecast will return on Tuesday and Friday with new episodes.

Will's Concerns and Opinions

• Will, a Vergecast host, wanted to find a real-world example of AI being used in a way that was unfamiliar and not just for tasks like writing emails.
• He discovered a project called "The Follower" which used facial recognition to match social media photos with open webcam footage.
• The Follower project showed how social media posts could be linked to real-world events, revealing the behind-the-scenes process of creating those posts.
• Will found this project unsettling because it showed how publicly available data and AI could be used to create a creepy and disconcerting view of people's lives.
• He decided to contact the creator of The Follower to learn more about their thoughts on AI.
• The speaker finds it frustrating to interview Dre because Dre focuses on how others respond to his work rather than his own intentions.
• The speaker believes that Dre's work with AI is primarily focused on machine vision, which is powerful and potentially frightening, but not the current focus of the AI industry.
• The speaker believes that Dre should be exploring generative AI, such as voice cloning and chatbots, which are more relevant to the current AI conversation.

Dre's Perspective

• Dre, the creator of the "Follower" project, describes how he developed software that matches social media posts with camera footage.
• Dre believes in the power of combining two bad ideas to create a good one.
• Dre is not interested in providing answers or solutions to these questions, but rather in exploring the possibilities and raising awareness.
• Dre's work is characterized by its provocative nature and its ability to challenge our understanding of AI.
• Dre's work is a reminder that AI is a powerful tool that can be used for good or evil, and it is up to us to decide how we will use it.