  Vibraimage is a digital system that quantifies a subject's mental and
emotional state by analysing video footage of the movements of their head.
Vibraimage is used by police, nuclear power station operators, airport security
and psychiatrists in Russia, China, Japan and South Korea, and has been
deployed at an Olympic Games, FIFA World Cup, and G7 Summit. Yet there is no
reliable evidence that the technology is actually effective; indeed, many
claims made about its effects seem unprovable. What exactly does vibraimage
measure, and how has it acquired the power to penetrate the highest profile and
most sensitive security infrastructure across Russia and Asia? I first trace
the development of the emotion recognition industry, before examining attempts
by vibraimage's developers and affiliates scientifically to legitimate the
technology, concluding that the disciplining power and corporate value of
vibraimage is generated through its very opacity, in contrast to increasing
demands across the social sciences for transparency. I propose the term
'suspect AI' to describe the growing number of systems like vibraimage that
algorithmically classify suspects / non-suspects, yet are themselves deeply
suspect. Popularising this term may help resist such technologies' reductivist
approaches to 'reading' -- and exerting authority over -- emotion,
intentionality and agency.
