this post was submitted on 03 Sep 2025
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Activists Are Using AI to Identify Masked ICE Agents (futurism.com)
submitted 2 weeks ago by throws_lemy@lemmy.nz to c/tech@programming.dev
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A Netherlands-based immigration activist named Dominick Skinner is using AI and facial recognition to reveal the identities of masked US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents. Talk about turned tables — and a striking ethical paradox.

In an interview with Politico, Skinner claimed that he and his team of volunteers have so far been able to use AI to identify at least 20 ICE agents seen in video recordings that have gone viral of the masked figures arresting people — students, children, mothers, and American citizens included — in broad daylight. The videos are deeply troubling, in part because of the dystopian imagery of armed federal agents shielding their faces as they arrest people in streets, their cars, homes, government offices, and workplaces.

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[–] 0x1C3B00DA@fedia.io 7 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

If the system flags the wrong person and a witch hunt ensues, it will validate every right-wing persecution complex there is.

Could you explain your worry further? To me, the problem with AI facial recognition is that a government or company using it has all the power. If they get a false positive, the wrong person gets hurt with no recourse. Civilians can't do anything detrimental with a person's identity that's not already illegal. Cops have been identifiable since they were catching slaves and outside of organized efforts (which this is not) there's been no issue with thatt.

Also, it seems trivial to add a step after the system returns an identification that checks if that person is actually employed by ICE. If not, oops it got it wrong; no harm, no foul. Even if it's wrong after that step, then what? I've seen no evidence that ICE agents are receiving anything beyond verbal harassment in the first place (outside of protests, where any hypothetical harm is random and not based on identity)

[–] Stovetop@lemmy.world 13 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

"Angry mob attacks innocent man they thought was ICE" is powerful ammo for anyone who would want to paint Trump's enemies as irrational and violent, and justify the fact that ICE agents are masked.

[–] 0x1C3B00DA@fedia.io 13 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

They don't need "powerful ammo". They're already rounding ppl up and illegally imprisoning them. And they plan to keep going further; ICE is on a hiring spree right now and just got a huge budget increase. They don't need valid excuses to be jackboots because they'll just do it anyway.

Refusing to use available tools to fight back is ridiculous. There is no "what if" here. They're already doing it and they've made it clear that want to do more

[–] sin_free_for_00_days@sopuli.xyz 1 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (1 children)

And you're fine if it identifies you as some ICE jackboot and an angry mob comes after you?

[–] krunklom@lemmy.zip 0 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (1 children)

Everything is stupid so why do anything? Maybe if we just sit and fuck ourselves deep and hard enough real quiet like things will magically get better.

[–] sin_free_for_00_days@sopuli.xyz 1 points 1 week ago

I'm not sure where you pulled that attitude from, but you do you.