https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/10/opinion/facial-recognition-race.html
"Researchers recently learned that Immigration and Customs Enforcement
used facial recognition on millions of driver’s license photographs
without the license-holders’ knowledge, the latest revelation about
governments employing the technology in ways that threaten civil liberties.
But the surveillance potential of facial recognition — its ability to
create a “perpetual lineup” — isn’t the only cause for concern. The
technological frontiers being explored by questionable researchers and
unscrupulous start-ups recall the discredited pseudosciences of
physiognomy and phrenology, which purport to use facial structure and
head shape to assess character and mental capacity.
Artificial intelligence and modern computing are giving new life and a
veneer of objectivity to these debunked theories, which were once used
to legitimize slavery and perpetuate Nazi race “science.” Those who wish
to spread essentialist theories of racial hierarchy are paying
attention. In one blog, for example, a contemporary white nationalist
claimed that “physiognomy is real” and “needs to come back as a
legitimate field of scientific inquiry.”
More broadly, new applications of facial recognition — not just in
academic research, but also in commercial products that try to guess
emotions from facial expressions — echo the same biological essentialism
behind physiognomy. Apparently, we still haven’t learned that faces do
not contain some deeper truth about the people they belong to."
Via Jitendra Mudhol and Bill Daul.
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://www.xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
http://www.glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
http://www.sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
