New York Police Employ AI to Monitor Drivers: Examining the Legal Debate
New York police's use of artificial intelligence (AI) to track drivers' traffic patterns in order to expose potential criminal activity has raised significant legal and ethical questions. One notable case involved the AI scanning a database of 1.6 billion New York license plates over a two-year period to track a car allegedly involved in drug trafficking. The car, driven by David Zayas, a convicted drug dealer from Massachusetts, was tracked through hundreds of license plate readers (LPRs) as it made multiple trips between Massachusetts and New York City. A seemingly ordinary traffic stop led to the discovery of drugs, a firearm, and a large sum of money in Zayas' vehicle. Zayas' defense attorney, Ben Gold, brought attention to the police force's reliance on an AI-powered surveillance program known as "Rekor Scout" and questioned its legality due to the lack of judicial oversight. The police's use of LPRs and AI in this case was not mentioned ...