AI uses public cameras to find a video of you taking Instagram photos

A Belgian artist has created software that is called The Follower, which is an artificial intelligence that is capable of identifying the location of where you took your last Instagram photo.

The software was created by Belgian artist Dries Depoorter, who began the journey of creating this extremely creepy AI system by recording open public cameras and broadcasting them live on websites such as EarthCam. Depoorter then took all of the Instagram photos he could find with a location tag close to the location of the public cameras, then trained the artificial intelligence system to cross-reference the Instagram photo with the footage recorded by public cameras.

The AI was trained to scrap the footage for the moment the Instagram photo was taken, capture it as a GIF and place it side-by-side next to the posted Instagram photo. The results are nothing less than extremely impressive, as Depoorter has posted several of these behind-the-scenes Instagram photos to his personal Twitter account showcasing the location, individuals, and open cameras used to capture the moment.

According to Depoorter, who is a public speaker, the software is currently focussing on specific locations such as Temple Bar in Dublin, New York's Times Square, and the entrance of Wrigley Field stadium in Chicago. Furthermore, the AI is concentrating on Instagram influencers that currently have more than 100,000 followers.

The Follower is a stark reminder of how in an ever-growing digitized world, everyone is being watched/tracked, even to the point where you are completely unaware of it, raising important questions regarding privacy, AI, surveillance, and social media.

In other AI-related news, an artificial intelligence system designed to create images from text prompts has won first place in a state art competition, which has sparked major controversy in the art community as individuals argue for/against the inclusion of AI-generated art.

Individuals arguing for the inclusion of AI-generated art have said that people against AI-generated art are the first to discredit the human element involved in its creation, while people arguing against the inclusion have said that they're watching the death of artistry unfold before our eyes. For more information on this story, check out the below link.