Elder sibling, or lord of the Ring Cameras

If you’re reading this, I’m either just hitting the road or on my way back from VerkadaOne, a nice little preview of some security market tech before the larger show of GSX next week.

I am interested in seeing the new products on offer too. If nothing else AI has made for a lot of interesting innovation in the security camera market as competitors scramble to have their seat at the table. Or maybe it will be more like the last one seated at a cakewalk? If you listen to Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, it’s more like him being your personal elf on a shelf.

During a financial analysts meeting Ellison reportedly told investors, with some glee apparently, that the future of AI based surveillance will bring about an era where “citizens will be on their best behavior”. If you’re thinking that feels uncomfortably familiar you might have been reading some Orwell recently, perhaps some satire that is increasingly becoming reality.

I do chafe against the notion that we’re barreling headlong into a future where we’ll be under constant surveillance, because I feel like we already are. The technology for that is already there, and as anyone in this industry can tell you we are putting it through its paces. Do you feel like everyone is on their best behavior as a result?

Crime is most certainly down from where it was decades ago, but the crime we do have now has become increasingly violent, and performative. If anything, should we worry that this new level of surveillance has introduced a new kind of voyeuristic market for criminal acts? Or even just to sate people’s constant need to watch the lives of others?

We’ve been told that an armed society is a polite one, and that saying has aged like milk in the sun. As for the constant surveilled validation people so desire, I can say this much: when I step through terminal security later, I will not be taking a picture of my tray, those boring life details should remain a mystery.

Keep it secret, keep it safe.