Travelers to EU countries will be questioned by an AI agent

Travelers in Hungary, Latvia, and Greece will be given an automated lie detection test – at border checkpoints – by an animated AI border agent. The program, called the iBorderCtrl, is part of a six-month pilot that will be deployed at four border crossing points in the aforementioned countries and led by the Hungarian National Police.

Project Coordinator George Boultadakis of European Dynamics in Luxembourg told the European Commission, “We’re employing existing and proven technologies—as well as novel ones—to empower border agents to increase the accuracy and efficiency of border checks… the system will collect data that will move beyond biometrics and on to biomarkers of deceit.”

The EU-funded project uses AI to facilitate faster border crossings for travelers. The AI agent will ask travelers questions like “What’s in your suitcase?” and “If you open the suitcase and show me what is inside, will it confirm that your answers were true?” To determine if the travelers are telling the truth, the AI-powered system records and analyzes 38 micro gestures on the travelers’ face, and scores each response.

The virtual agent on approving the travelers’ answers generates a QR code that will let them pass the border. On the other hand, travelers who fail to pass the test will be handed off to a human agent for detailed interrogation. This pilot program, however, is incapable of preventing anyone’s ability to cross the border, sources revealed.

With this new system, the team is quite confident in achieving the accuracy rate up to 85 percent, says Keeley Crockett, a member of the iBorderCtrl team.