Pirate's Cove

Really, the concern here should not be the AI, but that the Dallas government, which is two thirds Democrat, with a Republican mayor who used to be a Democrat, is grading homes. And, of course, the bureaucracy is usually left leaning. There was really no need to mention AI at all, that’s an attempt to make it scary

Dallas, your garbage truck is quietly scoring your home

Getting an HOA violation for an overgrown bush or improper parking used to be the work of a nosey neighbor. In some Dallas neighborhoods, that work is now being done by a garbage truck—fitted with an AI surveillance camera.

Since April, Dallas has installed dozens of AI powered cameras onto local garbage trucks to scan homes and buildings for potential code violations. The cameras come from Alabama-based technology company City Detect, which uses its own AI software to generate “blight-scores” for homes and buildings the cameras capture.

The City of Dallas in December is currently the largest municipality in Texas to contract with City Detect, approving a three-year, $2.5 million agreement for 100 cameras on nearly 50 sanitation vehicles dispatched around the city. Other North Texas cities affiliated with the company include Coppell and Little Elm.

According to City Detects website, their technology is aimed to create a “positive social impact” by providing detailed insights on sidewalk debris, grass height, litter, paint issues and others.The company maintains and stores the data while sharing it with Dallas’ sanitation and compliance department.

Is this a good thing or bad thing that the city will know issues on city property? But, really, shouldn’t the city have people who come around on a schedule to deal with maintenance on sidewalks, grass, etc?

While city leaders have defended the technology as an efficiency tool for addressing violations more quickly, it arrives at a time when distrust in AI-surveillance cameras relating to companies like Flock are at an all time high.

Whether it is AI or not makes zero difference. The city is using them to surveil citizen’s homes in a seriously naggy manner pretty much once every week, rather than code enforcement and such coming around periodically.

“The staff’s desire is to be able to have a cleaner, more tidy, orderly city, right? My concern is, as we’re learning more about AI and the lack of privacy and lack of protections, does the city have those protections in place to make sure my home, your home, our residents’ homes, and our privacy are protected,” Dallas City Council Member Chad West said in an interview with Fox4.

Do they, Chad? Why are you asking the question, you’re on the city council (also, I seriously dislike it all being capitalized).

Within four months of their deployment, the cameras have reportedly captured more than 20,000 potential code violations.

Thousands of residents received “courtesy notices” in the mail to correct things like driveway debris or overgrown weeds. Of that, 57 properties resulted in citations, which are issued after an actual code-officer comes to inspect the property.

The AI is not the problem: the problem is the consistent, weekly spying on the homes of citizens. Say, I wonder if they will do anything about gang and criminal activity?