Argentina’s AI crime prediction initiative sparks human rights concerns
Security forces in Argentina have unveiled plans to implement artificial intelligence (AI) to “predict future crimes,” a move that has alarmed experts over potential threats to citizens’ rights. This week, the far-right president, Javier Milei, established the Artificial Intelligence Applied to Security Unit. According to the new legislation, this unit will employ machine-learning algorithms to analyze historical crime data and predict future offenses.
Additionally, the AI will use facial recognition software to identify “wanted persons,” monitor social media,, and analyze real-time security camera footage to detect suspicious activities.
Human rights organizations raise alarms
While the Ministry of Security claims that the new unit will help “detect potential threats, identify movements of criminal groups, or anticipate disturbances,” human rights organizations have voiced significant concerns.
Experts worry that the technology could disproportionately target certain societal groups and have also questioned the scope of access security forces will have to the information.
Mariela Belski, executive director of Amnesty International Argentina, warned that large-scale surveillance could infringe on human rights. “It affects freedom of expression because it encourages people to self-censor or refrain from sharing their ideas or criticisms if they suspect that everything they comment on, post, or publish is being monitored by security forces,” she said.
The Argentine Center for Studies on Freedom of Expression and Access to Information highlighted that such technologies have historically been used to “profile academics, journalists, politicians, and activists,” posing significant privacy risks without proper oversight.
A controversial administration
Milei, a far-right libertarian who came to power late last year, has vowed a stringent approach to crime. His security minister, Patricia Bullrich, is reportedly aiming to replicate El Salvador’s controversial prison model, and the administration is moving toward militarizing security policy, according to the Center for Legal and Social Studies. The government has also cracked down on protests, with riot police recently using tear gas and rubber bullets on demonstrators, and officials threatening to sanction parents who bring children to marches.
This latest measure has elicited strong reactions in a country with a grim history of state repression. During Argentina’s brutal 1976-83 dictatorship, an estimated 30,000 people were forcibly disappeared, some thrown alive from planes in “death flights.” Thousands were tortured, and hundreds of children were kidnapped.
Official response
A source from the Ministry of Security stated that the new unit would operate under the current legislative framework, including the Personal Information Protection Act. The unit will focus on applying AI, data analytics, and machine learning to identify criminal patterns and trends within the ministry’s security databases.