One of the most popular uses of AI has undoubtedly been within the facial recognition industry. The police force use it to identify criminals, border control uses it to confirm people’s identities, and even our own phones use it to recognize us and grant us access with ease. The issue at hand is that these AI systems have been falsely identifying people of Asian, African-American, or Native American descent.
This is especially concerning because in the police force, AI facial recognition is used to determine criminals from camera footage or photos. African American women had some of the worst rates for false-positives in the facial recognition system, which is largely concerning due to the fact that this could lead to even more falsely accused of crime. In a world where minorities are already held back to some extent in terms of equality, especially in the justice system, AI facial recognition could be worsening this issue for innocent people.
It is now in the hands of policymakers to figure out how to correctly and appropriately implement facial recognition, and to decide whether or not it is harming or helping these institutions.
https://www.technologyreview.com/f/614986/ai-face-recognition-racist-us-government-nist-study/
Julia Riccio, jmr17e
LIS 4022 Spring 2020 