“Has Britain Gone Too Far With Its Digital Controls?”

Satariano, Adam, and Lizzie Dearden. “Has Britain Gone Too Far With Its Digital Controls?” New York Times, 17 Sept. 2025, https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/17/technology/britain-facial-recognition-digital-controls.html?searchResultPosition=22.

The British police force has increased its use of facial recognition software, internet regulation, and artificial intelligence in an effort to decrease crime and aid in police work. This has drastically increased the number of arrests and wanted individuals. The authors assert that it has become somewhat common to see people stopped and arrested for seemingly no reason. Britain has also began using artificial intelligence for data collection that could affect asylum requests, as an example. It has been called one of the largest embraces of artificial intelligence and digital surveillance seen in a Western democracy. It is also raising major concerns regarding a surveillance overreach, only heightened by the involvement of AI. This has also led to issues with the current administration in the United States.

This article discusses an aspect or use of AI that we have not particularly touched on in class discussion, but an issue that I think should be discussed more often when it comes to AI. The authors, Satariano and Dearden, do a good job of laying out how the technology has been implemented, the effects, and the concerns of both the authorities and the public. It was comprehensive, displaying the many many factors in play. Overall the article was very informative, as well as unsettling.