From C4I to AI: Security and Surveillance Technologies from the Athens 2004 to the Paris 2024 Olympic Games and Their Legacy
Samatas, Minas
From C4I to AI: Security and Surveillance Technologies from the Athens 2004 to the Paris 2024 Olympic Games and Their Legacy - 2026.
11
In this article, we briefly adopt a socio-political perspective on the transformation of the contemporary Olympic Games into security and surveillance Games. We examine the impact of 9/11, the interests of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), and those of the “surveillance-industrial complex,” which reinforce surveillance capitalism. We then briefly review the main security and surveillance technologies implemented at the Summer Olympic Games, from Athens 2004 to Paris 2024. In this context, we refer to the C4I system of Athens 2004, the digital wall of Beijing 2008, the Olympic fence of London 2012, the Simera balloon of Rio 2016, and the facial recognition cameras of Tokyo 2020. We focus more specifically on the applications of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Algorithmic Video Surveillance (AVS) at the Paris 2024 Games. While AVS has for the first time been legalized in France, civil society has succeeded in excluding algorithmic facial recognition. These Olympic AI-based technologies fully develop and legitimize surveillance capitalism and raise serious concerns for citizens’ rights and freedoms, even long after the Games. Finally, we argue that the AI legacy of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games will contribute to a significant transformation of future Olympic Games into algorithmic Games, enriching sport with numerous algorithmic applications, however at the expense of human rights and civil liberties. This, combined with the overall skyrocketing costs, has made hosting the Olympic Games unattractive and has generated growing post-Olympic skepticism toward the Games.
From C4I to AI: Security and Surveillance Technologies from the Athens 2004 to the Paris 2024 Olympic Games and Their Legacy - 2026.
11
In this article, we briefly adopt a socio-political perspective on the transformation of the contemporary Olympic Games into security and surveillance Games. We examine the impact of 9/11, the interests of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), and those of the “surveillance-industrial complex,” which reinforce surveillance capitalism. We then briefly review the main security and surveillance technologies implemented at the Summer Olympic Games, from Athens 2004 to Paris 2024. In this context, we refer to the C4I system of Athens 2004, the digital wall of Beijing 2008, the Olympic fence of London 2012, the Simera balloon of Rio 2016, and the facial recognition cameras of Tokyo 2020. We focus more specifically on the applications of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Algorithmic Video Surveillance (AVS) at the Paris 2024 Games. While AVS has for the first time been legalized in France, civil society has succeeded in excluding algorithmic facial recognition. These Olympic AI-based technologies fully develop and legitimize surveillance capitalism and raise serious concerns for citizens’ rights and freedoms, even long after the Games. Finally, we argue that the AI legacy of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games will contribute to a significant transformation of future Olympic Games into algorithmic Games, enriching sport with numerous algorithmic applications, however at the expense of human rights and civil liberties. This, combined with the overall skyrocketing costs, has made hosting the Olympic Games unattractive and has generated growing post-Olympic skepticism toward the Games.
Réseaux sociaux