Imagine a major city completely covered by a video surveillance system designed to monitor the every move of its citizens. Now imagine that the system is run by a fast-learning machine intelligence, that’s designed to spot crimes before they even happen. No, this isn’t the dystopian dream of a cyber-punk science fiction author, or the writers of TV show "Person of Interest".

This is Boston and it could soon be many more cities around the world. In the aftermath of the Boston Marathon Bombings in April of last year, as law enforcement and the world’s media struggled to make sense of the tragedy, the Boston Police Department contacted a company that develops surveillance technology based on advanced artificial intelligence.

Behavioral Recognition Systems, Inc. (BRS Labs) is a software development company based out of a nondescript office block in Houston, Texas, with the motto: "New World. New security."

Headed by former Secret Service special agent John Frazzini, the company brings a team of security professionals to bear on its ambitious artificial intelligence projects.

With the heavy traffic of Houston’s West Loop South Freeway just outside, BRS Labs has developed one of the most advanced, and perhaps most sinister, surveillance platforms known to man. Reason-based analysis AISight (pronounced "eyesight"), works by using a particular form of reason-based analysis of video footage that promises to change the way humans conduct their surveillance of other humans.

Artificial intelligence is already in use across surveillance networks around the world. At high security sites like prisons, nuclear facilities or government agencies, it’s commonplace for security systems to set up a number of rules-based alerts for their video analytics. […]