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Paper short abstract

The implementation and use of AI combined with biometric technologies by the Swedish Police is analyzed from the theoretical viewpoint of biopolitics and securitization. How are these technologies understood by different actors and used to nudge and control people in their everyday spaces and lives?

Paper long abstract

New legislation keeps being proposed and implemented giving the police more freedom to use AI technology in the name of fighting "gang crime". The AI Act limits some uses of AI. However, regarding police use the legislation in the finalized act was watered down and the possibilities are still significant. Quite soon national legislation might be in place which would enable the Swedish Police to use AI and biometrics, such as facial recognition, in real time to catch suspects but also to predict crime. As has been well documented AI keeps being biased against certain people and bodies, mainly in relation to race/ethnicity and gender but also age and other categories. These categories are classified in AI systems, either implicitly or explicitly, and one of the aims of this project is to investigate how this is done, with what data, and using which hardware. Another aim is to research how knowledge is being conveyed, or "translated", between different departments and professions within the police. From lawyers to investigators, forensic engineers to street cops, everyone deals with these technologies from different perspectives and with different insights and ideas about what it means. Following AnneMarie Mol's praxiographic approach, this means how it is used in some areas does not necessarily correspond to others, meaning we might be dealing with a multiple object. Lastly, the aim is also to research how these surveillance technologies affect, if they do, civil society and in particular so-called "vulnerable areas" where minorities are overrepresented.