Hong Kong plans to install tens of thousands of surveillance cameras that will make use of AI-powered facial recognition, the city's security chief said on Friday, bringing it closer to China where authorities often monitor public spaces with cutting-edge technology.
The Chinese finance hub has already installed almost 4,000 closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras under a police crime-fighting program. That number will increase to a total of 60,000 by 2028, according to documents submitted to the legislature.
Artificial intelligence is being used to monitor crowds and read license plates, and that technology "will naturally be applied to people, such as tracking a criminal suspect," Hong Kong's security chief Chris Tang told lawmakers.
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