Racism And AI: Here’s How it’s Been Criticized for Amplifying Bias
(Forbes, May 25, 2023)
The AI behind facial recognition has proven to be used to promote a racial bias. According to Harvard’s Science in the News, police facial recognition software is trained on mugshot data, in which Black people are overrepresented. Racist policing strategies contribute to this, like the New York Police Department maintaining a database of “gang-affiliated” people made up of 99% Black and Latino people, though there are no requirements to prove these people are gang affiliated, thus incentivizing false reports.
Letter: Danger of Growing Use of Biometric Data is Staring Us in the Face
(Financial Times, May 24, 2023)
The Ada Lovelace Institute is concerned that Chris Philp, the policing minister, is considering (Report, May 16) expanding police use of facial recognition, including integration into body-worn cameras. The use of biometric data, such as our faces, fingerprints and voices, raises significant legal, ethical and societal risks. This uniquely personal data can be used not only to identify, but also to categorise and classify, inferring characteristics such as gender and race.
Step Right Up: Newest US Police Agency Signs Up for Clearview AI Service
(Biometric Update, May 25, 2023)
The Delaware State Police agency has been awarded at $15,000 grant to buy a subscription to a controversial biometric startup’s face-scraping service. There are no state or local laws forbidding the state police from using the services of Clearview AI, but opposition cropped up soon after the public learned of the March grant.
[Paywall] OpenAI’s Sam Altman Raises $115 Million for Worldcoin, the Eyeball-Scanning Crypto Project to Combat AI Bots
(Fortune, May 25, 2023)
The main concern for onlookers is still privacy, with many balking at the idea of volunteering biometric data to a private company. While Tools for Humanity...
Johnson Controls Reducing Positions at Wichita Plant
(MSN, May 24, 2023)
Johnson Controls is reducing positions at its Wichita plant, affecting 15% of its manufacturing workforce. According to their website, Johnson Controls “provides Wichita with RFID tracking systems, facial recognition, fingerprint, and other biometric access control solutions for retail, loss prevention, air cargo security, and all commercial facilities.
