Jacqueline Gosdigian, Supervising Policy Counsel at Brooklyn Defender Services, testified before the New York City Council Committee of the Whole at an oversight hearing examining the risks posed by artificial intelligence. She warned that the NYPD and Department of Correction are already using AI-enabled surveillance tools against New Yorkers with little transparency, and that these tools are trained on data drawn mostly from low-income communities of color. “The NYPD must be required to disclose and audit the use of their AI and surveillance tools, and independent audits of the AI tools being used by our law enforcement agencies must be done, at a minimum,” Gosdigian testified, pointing to a Comptroller audit that found ShotSpotter alerts were accurate only 13 percent of the time. Gosdigian also urged the Council to hold the city accountable for establishing, staffing, and opening the Office of Algorithmic Accountability, and to require more audits of how city agencies use AI, both under policy and in practice.

Read the full testimony here.