Lauren Markham Discusses AI Surveillance at the Border at Hunter College Event
By: Florencia Arozarena
Lauren Markham and Professor Sissel McCarthy at Roosevelt House. Photo by Florencia Arozarena.
A Pulitzer Center grantee and award-winning journalist, Lauren Markham, discussed the growing use of artificial intelligence technology at the U.S. border on April 23 at the Roosevelt House, where approximately 48 students and faculty attended.
Sissel McCarthy, professor and head of the department of journalism, hosted the event in a partnership between Hunter College and the Pulitzer Center for the ninth year. She brought Markham to talk about the new technology in surveillance and AI, which Markham saw at the Border Security Expo in 2023.
“The border zones are an incredible testing ground for new technologies, because they're more hidden spaces,” Markham said. “So, it's tested first in war zones and then at the border, and then it comes and creeps into society.”
Markham highlighted this sophisticated surveillance system along the US-Mexico border, which includes more than 500 surveillance towers and various other surveillance methods, including social media monitoring, Bluetooth tracking, and license plate monitors.
“We can know who's coming into our border before they even get here. We can know once they get here, we have information about where they've been and what they've been up to,” she said.
McCarthy chose the topic because “AI is permeating all aspects of our society, and AI plus immigrants at the border are both very, very hot issues, so it's great to get her perspective.”
Hunter College sophomore and winner of the 2025 Pulitzer Center Reporting Fellowship, Julia Wysokinska, said that Markham was inspiring. “I think it makes me really excited to do future projects as well as continue working on this project that I just won this fellowship for,” Wysokinska said.
The event concluded with a Q&A session between Prof. McCarthy and Lauren Markham, where Markham emphasized the critical role of journalism in exposing these issues.
“We need journalists tremendously. This is how these stories get broken. This is how we understand how these systems work,” Markham said. “Journalism is a form of resistance.”