4 ways to address the failures we found along the US border’s “virtual wall”
MIT Technology Review investigates the systemic failures of AI-enabled surveillance towers along the US-Mexico border. The report highlights how these technologies often fail to detect migrants, leading to preventable deaths, and suggests federal audits to improve oversight.
Why it matters
It questions the efficacy and human cost of multi-billion dollar investments in border security technology.
Artificial intelligence 4 ways to address the failures we found along the US border’s “virtual wall” The US has spent billions on surveillance towers, but hundreds of people have died near them. Here’s how to strengthen federal oversight.
MIT Technology Review today published our investigation into how many people have died near the “virtual wall” of surveillance towers that the US government has installed along the US-Mexico border.
We found cases of people who walked undetected through areas surveilled by advanced, AI-enabled towers and later died nearby, where their bodies remained unnoticed for weeks or months. These cases reflect systemic flaws in the virtual wall: broken towers, algorithms that failed to detect people, and agents who simply did not respond to alerts.
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