Colorado Mountain Town Revolts After AI Cameras and Robots Spark Privacy Concerns

By Nancy Lofholm | The Colorado Sun

First, it was the robots. They were trundling along sidewalks in Paonia last summer gathering data on how accommodating those thoroughfares were for people with disabilities. The wandering robots took townspeople by complete surprise.

Then came the surveillance cameras mounted on poles and walls last fall. They were capturing those doing business at the town hall, coming and going from the town’s water plant, and dancing in front of the town park’s bandstand. Even those with impressive Western swing moves weren’t happy to unknowingly be caught on camera.  

What was up with all these high-tech, data-scooping devices in Paonia, an agriculture-centric town of 1,500 in the North Fork Valley?

The answer to that isn’t clear. But it has prompted the most strife to hit Paonia since two decades ago when mosquito fogging ignited a controversy that culminated in the bombing of the town’s mosquito-control building.

This latest meeting-packing brouhaha began after residents started noticing the artificial intelligence-enabled cameras with their telltale blue lights trained on public places, on citizens and on town employees.

READ THE FULL ARTICLE AT THE COLORADO SUN