In several airports in Europe, passengers will be administered lie detector tests powered by artificial intelligence in addition to their normal security steps, according to a press release about the new initiative.
A new European Union-backed project called iBorderCtrl will install lie detector tests at border checkpoints in Hungary, Latvia and Greece -- three countries that border non-EU nations -- for a test run this month, in which travelers from outside the EU will answer questions from a computer-animated border guard through a webcam. It will analyze travelers' micro-expressions to gauge whether they are lying, with human border guards overseeing the process and stepping in if a security risk is detected.
Travelers deemed to be low-risk during a pre-screening stage will only be asked about their basic information during the lie-detection process, while passengers who may be a higher risk will receive a more detailed screening.
"It will ask the person to confirm their name, age and date of birth, and it will ask them things like what the purpose of their trip is and who is funding the trip," said Keeley Crockett, one of the experts involved in the project.
Some experts have doubts about the experiment, arguing that passengers will simply pay more attention to their physical cues and will continue to lie during the process.
“If you ask people to lie, they will do it differently and show very different behavioral cues than if they truly lie, knowing that they may go to jail or face serious consequences if caught,” said Imperial College London's Maja Pantic. “This is a known problem in psychology.”
