A BELGIAN artist has highlighted how easy it is to creepily track people using public CCTV feeds.
Dries Depoorter created artificial intelligence (AI) software that matches up people’s Instagram snaps to security footage.
The result is a series of compilation snaps of people posing next to landmarks around the globe.
One half of the image shows their Instagram post, while the other shows them posing for the photo as seen through a CCTV camera.
To create the project, called The Follower, Depoorter, 31, began by recording camera feeds that are public and broadcast live online.
These included 24-hour CCTV footage captured at Times Square in New York City and outside of the famous Temple Bar pub in Dublin.
The artist then hoovered up Instagram photos tagged with the camera’s locations and used AI software to cross-reference them.
He trained the tool to scan footage for the moment each photo was taken, and then combined the two.
A page on Depoorter’s website presents half a dozen instances where the AI was able to match footage to Instagram posts.
The result is an eerie visual that shows just how often we’re being monitored as we walk a city’s streets.
Depoorter, who launched the project on Monday, said that his results so far were created using just 10 days’ worth of data.
The software focused on Instagram influencers who have more than 100,000 followers.
“The idea popped in my head when I watched an open camera and someone was taking pictures for like 30 minutes,” the artist told Vice.
He plans to publish more CCTV matchups in future.
Depoorter focuses on themes such as privacy, artificial intelligence, surveillance & social media.
According to his website, his work has included the creation of interactive installations, apps, websites, games and more.
“If you check out all my work you can see I show the dangers of new technology,” the Belgian told Vice.
“I hope to reach a lot of people by making it really simple. I really don’t like difficult art. I’m part of a new generation of artists that work with technology.”
Last year, the artist made headlines around the world after using artificial intelligence to publicly shame politicians.
His software scanned YouTube livestreams of Flemish government meetings and tagged legislators spotted using their smartphones.
Facial recognition technology was used to identify politicians distracted by their devices.
The results were posted to dedicated Twitter and Instagram accounts, which quickly garnered thousands of followers.
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