Here’s Another Rad Shirt That Can Defeat AI-Powered Security Cameras
As Western countries grapple with the moral and security implications of facial and body recognition camera systems, individual citizens are making their voices heard through unique pushback. Artist Simon Weckert recently showed 404 Media some unique shirt designs he’s made, and they don’t just look cool, but actively confuse smart camera systems so they don’t even see you as a person.
While that might be hurtful if your mom said it, it’s exactly the response Weckert was going for with his shirt design. His version of digital camouflage—something we also covered last month with the noRecognition project—can confuse AI algorithms and make them unable to detect you were even in the frame. As AI is relied upon more for image recognition, you could slip through digital surveillance unnoticed if human oversight isn’t part of the system.
Many modern security camera systems, including the ones Weckert wanted to thwart, use a “You Only Look Once” family of image recognition models. So he downloaded them and used them to practice and see what they can detect and what they can’t. Through experimentation, he found certain patterns would throw the models off so much that they became practically useless for detecting people.
“The problem is that we don’t know what technology is behind these camera systems,” Weckert said, “so therefore I cannot claim 100% that the t-shirt works against this specific camera system, but I can say I know it works for the very public and famous YOLO algorithm.”
As camera systems are updated in the camouflage arms race, Weckert plans to update his patterns in turn. Just like fashion lines update for summer or winter, he envisions his apparel line updating with new patterns to stay ahead of the cameras.
This is important, he said, not just because it can give people a tool to hide from cameras if they really needed to, but to show people that they have a choice. You don’t have to be surveilled if you don’t want to. It’s not a pre-requisite to be part of modern life.
Yet, at least.
