Executive Summary

We assess that the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in government-conducted surveillance of its citizens is rapidly expanding across the globe. At the same time, regulators still have to match this trend. In foreign markets, it presents an element of competition between different vendors to leverage soft power. Domestically, AI-enabled surveillance technologies promise to safeguard citizens against crime and protect governments and militaries against espionage. However, it also leads to new levels of automated mass surveillance. Vast amounts of data can be analysed, surveilling people without their knowledge.

This empowers autocratic regimes to suppress dissent. In democracies, the failure of privacy-preserving guardrails allows for government overreach and false outcomes.