This new technology has the potential to change the face of border control in the near future. Watching a video by KOLD.13 News, illustrated the power of these avatars. Reporter Ana Campos tried to deceive the machine, and was immediately accused of lying (Campos). Although very creepy, the machine proved very effective in picking up on the body language of Ana. It is still considered an on-going project, however, for the Department of Homeland Security Center of Excellence in Border Security and Immigration at the U of A because there are still some flaws. For instance, the avatar has trouble or gets confused when the individual is drunk, stoned or has a serious medical condition, and therefore, they will make sure to have a human agent present at each kiosk.
A similar technology to protect our borders is being implemented in Texas by the Texas Border Sheriff's Coalition (TBSC) through BlueServo. They have created the Virtual Community, "an innovative real-time surveillance program designed to empower the public to proactively participate in fighting border crime" (BlueServo). Any qualified person can sign-up for free to become a Virtual Texas Deputy, and monitor the border from their homes. Virtual Texas Deputies can watch one of many cameras through this social network, and if they find anything suspicious they can alert a local sheriff via email. The other benefit of this social network is that the public can connect their own cameras to "www.blueservo.net" to create their own local Virtual Neighborhood Watches (BlueServo). Thus, users can protect their homes, neighborhoods, and families from crime.
It is much more user involved than the avatar project at University of Arizona, but lacks complete control and sincerity that the avatar provides. There are just too many things that could go wrong when working with a social network to fight border control, but it has been proven to be successful. It just goes to show that border control technology is an ever-adapting field as we try and stay a step ahead from criminals trying to enter our country. Whether it be enlisting civilians to keep a watchful eye or using unwavering machines to detect deception, the information technology is there to protect our borders and the virtual border control agent is just a new, attractive way to do so.
Work Cited
Campos, Ana. "Virtual border agent can tell when you're lying." KOLD.13 News. Raycom Media, 01/03/2011. Web. 20 Mar 2011.
"About BlueServo." BlueServo. BlueServo Inc., 2007. Web. 20 Mar 2011.
This is a great example of how information technology is extremely helpful and accurate, but how people are still absolutely necessary in maintaining and controlling these systems. These avatars that are being used to identify whether people are lying are probably much more accurate than humans or a lie detecting machine. However, there are circumstances that the machine cannot interpret correctly. These avatars are still just tools and programs that enhance the ability of border protecting employees and are not replacing them. I think that if these avatars were actually able to do the job accurately enough to replace employees, there would be more resistance to the technology because people are sensitive to unemployment. While technologies such as these avatars are helping protect our borders, I cannot imagine them being able to think and have the same instincts that humans have.
ReplyDeleteThe use of an avatar to protect the borders is an innovative and useful application of technology. Although the avatar cannot work as a sole protector, the joint effort of a human and avatar is excellent. The human can analyze a potential intruders behavior while also picking up on things mentioned in the article such as intoxication. The avatar can use computer analysis to judge even the littlest things, such as irregular eye movement. When these two observations are combined it should be beneficial. Perhaps within the next few years avatars will become advanced enough to perform this job without human assistance. As Suzanne said, the only thing that avatars completely lack is human instinct. I fear that the use of social networking that gives people, some unqualified, too much power. I am excited to see how these technologies evolve in the future because as of now they seem very promising.
ReplyDeleteThis is the sort of technology that reminds me of the Terminator movies... Will it help with border control? Absolutely. Is it practical and necessary for us as a country? No. A project like this would not only consume an insane amount of resources and time, but also millions of dollars that this country really cannot afford to spend.
ReplyDeleteThat being said, border patrol is somewhat of a pressing issue for us. Many deaths, murders and kidnapping occur daily due to illegal immigration- primarily for drug reasons. Drug lords and drug cartels attempt to smuggle people or product over borders, and anyone that gets in their way is mutilated or kidnapped for ransom. It is true that a vast majority of illegal immigrants sneak across the border to begin a new, promising and hopefully better life, but the atrocities committed by these gangs and drug lords really create a need for stricter border control. If IT could somehow find a cheaper way to implement border security, that would be the ideal situation. Just buy guns for all the Texans and we can call it border patrol.
Considering border control being a very pressing issue today, and the implications that illegal immigrants are taking away jobs from American citizens, at first glance this technology looks like a brilliant solution. This technology prevents deception and also has a human counterpart for anything the technology cannot determine. So the borders are more secure right? Not really. Illegal immigrants will still be entering the country in other ways, considering that millions do each year. And as for the job protection, really all that this technology is doing is showing us that at some point, potentially, technology will be able to replace humans. Yes, nothing can replace human instinct, but technology is cheaper in the long run. So yes, maybe we can protect our jobs from illegal immigrants, but can we ultimately protect it from technology? That I'm not so sure about. As technology advances, it becomes so high-tech that it can do things better than humans can. Just look at all the machines that mass produce products as opposed to how people used to work to produce things. Sure there are still jobs for maintaining the equipment, but more jobs are eliminated than created. It's really a sensitive point because people don't want to say anything bad about new innovation, but they also don't want to lose their jobs. So then the question becomes, how can we compromise?
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