On 20 June 2025, Melanie Fink presented her research on 'Robo Swarms and Polygraphs: The Future of European Border Management and its Human Costs' at the Research Workshop on 'Migration law at the intersection of international, EU and domestic law: institutional structures and the protection of human rights' hosted by the University of Glasgow School of Law.
The workshop, co-sponsored by the international and EU Law Research Hub and Centro Studi e Ricerche 'Coesione e Diritto' at the University of Catania, brought together leading scholars to examine the complex intersections between international, EU and domestic law in migration governance. The event featured three thematic sessions covering rights, institutional players and powers, and procedures and interpretation.
Melanie Fink's presentation, delivered online as part of the final session on 'Procedures and interpretation,' examined the rapidly evolving landscape of AI technologies in EU border management. Drawing on her recent research, she explored how digital technologies are transforming European border control, focusing on two core functions outlined in the Schengen Borders Code: border surveillance and border checks. Her analysis covered the deployment of smart robots and big data predictive analytics in border surveillance, examining both current applications and future plans by the European Commission and Frontex.
The presentation highlighted the significant human rights implications of these technological developments, analyzing how AI applications in border management pose risks to individual rights and assessing the adequacy of protections offered by the EU AI Act. As borders continue to serve as testing grounds for new technologies, Fink's research provides critical insights into the trajectory and risks of increasing automation in European migration control. The paper is accessible here, as a pre-print on SSRN, and will be published as a chapter forthcoming in Philippe De Bruycker, Fabian Lutz, Jorrit Rijpma, Daniel Thym (eds), The Law of Schengen: Limits, Contents and Perspectives after 40 Years.
This research forms part of Melanie Fink's broader work on administrative justice in the automated state, supported by her recent NWO-Veni grant (2025-2028), which explores how to preserve human dignity and procedural justice when public authorities deploy AI systems.
