BY: Donte Miller
A little later this year, Facebook is set to release a plan for new facial
recognition technology, DeepFace they plan on incorporating into their website.
The difference between this technology and previously released
computer technology is the proposed accuracy of it; it is said to be nearly as
accurate as the human brain in recognizing a person's face in pictures, with
only a .28% difference. What it plans to do with this software is to help people
identify people in pictures so that they may more accurately "tag" them in the
photo. Facebook has not been the only company interested in utilizing face
recognition technology, as other tech giants, such as Google and apple also have
their own purposes; Apple plans to further develop their lock system to be able
to be unlocked through taking a "selfie", and Google to improve their image
search system.
Facial recognition has also found a purpose in less commercial fields, as
researches in the UTS Games Studio have realized. They have applied facial
recogniton technology to read facial expressions to help the emotional
development of ASD children of autistic children. It is has been observed that
93% of communication is non-verbal and austic children often have a difficult
time interpreting those, so the software is designed as a game to help teach
that.
In addition to that, the technology can also be used for security purposes.
The software would allow officers to compare any photo of your face to a
database of local mug shots to help take more of a proactive and preventive
approach to law enforcement. On the opposite side of this issue is the privacy
issue. Many people have issues with this technology because of the invasive
nature of it. This technology would allow someone to access information about
you without your consent. It has been often implied that this is a violation of
people's right to free speech, and freedom in general. Another issue with this
people have is the accuracy of this software. Examples like 41-year-old John
Gass, who received a letter from the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles
informing him he should stop driving, effective immediately.After several
frantic phone calls, followed up by a hearing with registry officials, Gass
learned his image had been flagged by a facial recognition algorithm, designed
to scan through a database of millions of drivers' licences looking for
potential criminal false identities. The algorithm had determined that he looked
sufficiently like another Massachusetts driver that foul play was likely
involved, so he received the automated letter. The RMV was unsympathetic,
claiming it was the accused individual's "burden" to clear their name in the
event of any mistakes, arguing that the pros of protecting the public outweighed
the inconvenience to the wrongly targeted few.
There is much to be stated about the progress of facial recognition
technology, and while whether it has a more positive or negative effect has yet
to be determined, one thing is for certain; it's impact will be immense.
Sources:
The government has had this technology for a while, but it's cool, to see it is finally being released to the public. Its potential is endless, and I can see it being used everywhere from accessing your building at work, to unlocking your home door.
ReplyDeleteThe potential for facial recognition technology is limitless but can have serious consequences in its use. Privacy may be at risk but whether the positive side-effect of this technology can counterbalance the loss of privacy remains to be seen. This is a fascinating topic and I look forward to seeing how this technology will be integrated into more and more devices in the future.
ReplyDeleteFunny, Marc Rotenberg is one of my good friend's father. There is certainly more use to this facial recognition technology than automatic tagging on Facebook. This poses a number of security and privacy issues and questions.
ReplyDeleteAs Americans, we really don't have any privacy anymore.
ReplyDelete