--- title: "This Colorful Picture is Like an Invisibility Cloak for AI" description: "A group of engineers figured out a way to fool AI surveillance systems with the help of a little colorful patch you can hang around your neck." date: "2019-04-23" modified: "2019-04-23" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/adversarial-patch-ai-surveillance" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" tags: - "adversarial ai" - "artificial intelligence" - "generative adversarial network" - "the digest" --- # This Colorful Picture is Like an Invisibility Cloak for AI ![A group of engineers figured out a way to fool AI surveillance systems with the help of a little colorful patch you can hang around your neck.]() *\Image: arXiv\* ## Invisibility Cloak The technology behind sophisticated mass surveillance systems have made enormous strides in recent years. You [can't even jaywalk]() in some parts of the world without an AI-powered camera snitching on you. New research, though, could throw AI-powered surveillance cameras for a loop. A group of engineers from the university of KU Leuven in Belgium invented a colorful patch you can print out yourself and hang around your neck that renders you invisible to automatic surveillance cameras that use AI-based object recognition software. https://youtu.be/MIbFvK2S9g8 A [preprint of the research]() was published last week in *arXiv*. The so-called "adversarial patch" was able to hide test subjects from automated surveillance cameras and security systems because of the way the image itself "effectively lowers the accuracy of person detection" — in other words, you become part of the scene and not overwhelmingly one thing, like a "person" or "chair" by introducing a bunch of noise through the patch. ## Ugly T-Shirt It's not the only adversarial patch of its kind. Dutch artist and designer Simone C. Niquille created a [series of t-shirts]() that are covered in a bunch of bizarre faces that are able to confuse Facebook's automatic face recognition software. The Dutch researchers are also hoping their patch could be turned into a t-shirt, making wearers "virtually invisible for automatic surveillance cameras" — at least until the security system's manufacturers issue software updates. **READ MORE:** [This colorful printed patch makes you pretty much invisible to AI]() \[*The Verge*\] **More on AI surveillance:** *[Professor: Total Surveillance Is the Only Way to Save Humanity]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()