China develops AI tool to monitor loyalty of Communist party members
The device works by making a party member watch videos of the party in a glass booth; smart cameras and biometrics then determine the members loyalty to the party
In a development reminiscent of George Orwell’s famed fiction 1984, China has developed a new artificial intelligence (AI) tool which enables authorities to monitor the loyalty levels of Communist Party members.
The Institute of Artificial Intelligence in Hefei said the ‘Smart Political Education Bar’ analyses the user’s brainwaves and deploys facial recognition to “discern the level of acceptance for ideological and political education”. It can analyse facial expressions and brain waves of Communist Party members to determine how receptive they are to ‘thought education’, said media reports.
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A video on Chinese social media, explaining how the device works, was taken off soon after it was released last month.
How does the device work?
The device works by making people watch videos of the Chinese Communist Party in a glass booth. Smart cameras and biometrics present in the glass booth, then assess one’s determination to be grateful to the party, listen to the party, and follow the party.
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According to a report in The Daily Star, the researchers behind the tool said: “On the one hand, the level of acceptance of ideological and political education of the individual party member can be evaluated, on the other, we can provide real data to continually enrich our educational content.”
The Hefei Comprehensive National Science Centre has reportedly ‘encouraged’ over 40 party members, who are also on the research team, to test the device. A video that was subsequently deleted reportedly showed a researcher entering a kiosk, sitting in front of a screen and looking at articles promoting party policy and achievements.
The kiosk could ‘see’ the researcher’s expressions via surveillance cameras. The media reports said it’s not clear how, and if, the system will be rolled out to monitor the party’s millions of members.
