A digital border guard will be trialled at some borders in Hungary, Latvia and Greece for six months. It includes an AI lie detector, but some doubt it will work

A virtual border guard could soon be asking the questions Oli Scarff/Getty

What’s in your suitcase? If you open the suitcase and show me what is inside, will it confirm that your answers were true?

These are just two of the questions that an automated lie-detection system will ask travellers during a six-month pilot starting this month at four border crossing points in Hungary, Latvia and Greece with countries outside the European Union. It will be coordinated by the Hungarian National Police.

The lie detector uses artificial intelligence and is part of a new tool called iBorderCtrl, developed by …