11-06-2025
AI Tracking of Homeless Camps: Crucial Resource or Civil Rights Nightmare?
In March of 2024, two men, disillusioned by traditional methods of combating homelessness, developed and released Nomadik: a ground-breaking app that uses AI to detect and track homeless encampments across the city of Austin, Texas.
Nomadiks developers touted the app as a way to "[harness] the power of collective intelligence," by involving everyday people in the process of documenting homelessness in the city. But critics pointed out that "even well-intentioned efforts can lead to unintended consequences and further stigmatization."
Now, just over a year since its release, the question is: Is Nomadik helping the homeless, or does it open the door for more sinister AI use down the road?
Trevor Sorrells, co-founder and CEO of Nomadik, believes that the app is a crucial element in understanding and solving the homelessness problem.
"Our tool isnt for surveillance," he stressed. "Its purpose is to take traditionally underfunded and understaffed organizations and give them the tools they need to apply their resources where they will have the biggest impact on both the clients and the community as a whole."
When a user downloads the app, the first screen that appears is a camera, which can be used to photograph homeless encampments. The user can also toggle to a map with encampments outlined in red, and "info drop" what is happening in the area. The user can report things like hazardous waste, drug paraphernalia, and the scale of debris in the area. Another section on the app asks questions about whether the user is experiencing homelessness, domestic violence, etc., to determine what resources the user may need.
Sorrells explained to RCP that the app is meant to expand access to care by creating a "pattern of life" so that service providers know where and whom to focus on. He added that since resources are limited, the app helps providers distribute care "based on the expected impact they will have."
The Argument Against Nomadik
The expanding use of AI tools like Nomadik in cities like Dallas, Waco, San Jose, and San Diego reflect the growing optimism of Sorrells and others that AI could be the key to ending homelessness. Yet Albert Fox Cahn, executive director of the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project, is concerned that people have not fully thought through where such technology could lead.
This type of AI use is, in his words, a "civil rights nightmare." Cahn pointed out that treating homelessness like crime rather than a humanitarian issue is already a popular practice in many cities. Just because AI technology is used for benign reasons today does not mean that it couldnt be used to "arrest people tomorrow, or even deport them," he stressed.
Cahn told RCP that the idea of using AI to track homeless encampments is born out of a false understanding of what drives homelessness. AI tracking of homeless camps does not solve the problem of homelessness, he pointed out. It simply documents it.
One of Sorrells primary arguments for Nomadik is that its documentation of homelessness allows service providers to better understand a communitys needs and tailor their efforts accordingly. But Cahn dismissed the idea that better data is what is most needed and argues that we should be more focused on prevention.
"[AI] tracking can help police put unhoused folks behind bars, but how can it put a roof over their head?" Cahn asked. If we are to use AI at all, Cahn said, we should be using it to prevent homelessness through tracking "predatory landlord practices," for example.
While Sorrells agrees with Cahn that there are many root causes of homelessness, including the opioid epidemic, mental health struggles, and other systemic challenges, he maintains that AI is part of the solution. Sorrells is not afraid that the technology could be misused and is instead enthusiastic about the ways in which it can streamline outreach and resource distribution.
The broader question still lingers, with no satisfactory answer: Is Nomadik a help or a danger to one of the U.S. most vulnerable populations? Homelessness still remains high in Austin, and continues to rise throughout the U.S. It is unclear how much the app has helped, if at all, but it is clear that Nomadik and other AI advancements will remain a point of controversy as state and federal legislators try to keep pace with AIs constantly evolving technology.
Madelynn McLaughlin is an intern at RealClearPolitics. She graduated from Liberty University in 2025 with a degree in Government: Politics and Policy.
