2020 · Research project · AI ethics
AI in the Future of Surveillance
A research paper bridging neural-network fundamentals with a literary analysis of Orwell's 1984, and the modern parallels in mass data collection, algorithmic propaganda, and state surveillance.
- AI ethics
- Neural networks
- Literary analysis
- Research
Overview
A research paper exploring the ethical and technical implications of AI in surveillance. The paper deliberately bridges two angles that are usually written about separately: the technical (how modern neural networks actually work, what they can recognize and predict) and the literary (a close reading of George Orwell’s 1984 as a thought experiment about state visibility into private life).
What it covers
- Neural network fundamentals. What these systems are doing under the hood, where their capabilities come from, and where their failure modes live.
- Literary analysis of 1984. Orwell’s surveillance state as the reference point for what unbounded visibility into private life produces.
- Modern parallels. Mass data collection at consumer scale, algorithmic content curation as a vector for propaganda, and state surveillance systems built on top of commercial technology stacks.
- Ethical implications. What changes when the marginal cost of surveillance approaches zero and visibility becomes effectively unlimited.
Why this combination
Pairing the technical and the literary forces both arguments to be honest. Writing about AI surveillance without specifics about how the underlying models work makes it too easy to wave away. Writing about it without the literary frame loses the human stakes that make the question worth asking in the first place.
A note on the language
The paper is written in Danish.