Everything You Do Is Being Recorded

Anthony "Bingy" Arillotta, a made man in the Genovese crime family, was made to surrender his cellphone, beeper, and jewelry in August 2003 before being strip-searched for electronic devices. Soon, the average person may have to prepare for similar scrutiny as AI-enabled recorders become widely available. Companies like Deveillance have developed devices like Spectre I, designed to prevent others from recording individuals.

The tech behind these wearables can capture speech even when it's drowned out by background noise, thanks to sophisticated algorithms. Advanced AI accessories may soon be as common as AirPods. To counteract this, researchers are developing noise cancellation technology that can help humans converse in noisy environments. However, these advancements in noise suppression could also be used to improve AI's ability to recover speech from jammed recordings.

One potential solution is to supply data to these algorithms with a "junk" version, as suggested by historian Finn Brunton. Artists like Adam Harvey have already taken this approach, using makeup and clothing to frustrate facial-recognition algorithms. Companies are also working on noise cancellation for cellphone calls and podcast software, driven by the goal of improving everyday user experiences.