'Where is the screen?': AI expert warns of traffic camera flaws after court win

Résumé détaillé

Concerns around traffic camera accuracy grows amid calls for independent audit.

Most drivers issued with a wrongful mobile phone infringement appeal to Access Canberra, only to end up paying the $641 fine and copping three demerit points. Carl Jackson was different.

The 62-year-old artificial intelligence (AI) specialist challenged the ACT government in court, proved the evidentiary process behind the territory's traffic cameras was flawed, and successfully had his fine thrown out.

On the evening of November 17, 2025, Mr Jackson, founder and chief executive of Canberra-based firm Military Cloud and AI Solutions, was driving home from work along Athllon Drive in Greenway when he passed a mobile device detection camera. Resting on his lap was a card holder crafted from an old mobile phone case.

"As soon as I saw the image, I thought, not only is that not a mobile phone, you've compromised the evidential process," Mr Jackson said. "You've simply assumed that something resembling a phone case is, in fact, an active phone."

Despite Mr Jackson explaining that the item was merely a repurposed card holder, Access Canberra rejected his initial appeal.

Determined to challenge the decision, Mr Jackson took the matter to the ACT Magistrates Court, with the hearing finally taking place on October 19, 2026, almost a year after the alleged offence.

Ahead of the hearing, Mr Jackson sought technical clarity from ACT authorities.

"I sent 23 questions to ACT Infringements trying to understand their process. I was curious to see how the AI functioned," he said.

"Crucially, I asked for the system's error rate, a figure they still haven't disclosed."

Début de l'article, extrait de The Canberra Times. Pour lire la suite, ouvrez l'article chez le média.