Coded Bias- Facial Recognition and Screening



Does Facial Recognition Invade Your Privacy? 

I have recently watched a documentary produced by Shalini Kantayya called "Coded Bias". This screening has opened my eyes to what really happens within facial recognition and how, at times, can invade one's personal space. The woman who was driven by this idea of coded bias and how it affects peoples' lives is Joy Buolamwini. Joy is a researcher who began testing different facial recognitions and noticed how it does not recognize darker women and men. After noticing this issue she began to do research on how the algorithms of facial recognition truly affects the world around us, and even went to different countries to help her conduct this study. While traveling to different countries and looking into how they use technology and facial recognition, Joy was able to see how people's privacy were highly invaded.

  For example, in England they have multiple cameras set up around the streets to track criminals. This means everyone who walks by, criminal or not, are traced and their personal identity is shown. In short, that is going against people's civil rights if America were to do that. Another example Joy showed was in Hong Kong and the technology there is extremely advanced. To pay for groceries, grab something from a vending machine, and even using transportation, one must scan their face to be approved to pay. Another key point in the documentary was about the woman who served time and is judged based off of her artificial intelligence and what justice she deserves. Even though she has worked extremely hard and turned her life around, the AI still views her in a negative way. This brought attention to Joy and her recent views against face recognition and ultimately made her realize the downfall of artificial intelligence. After digging up more and more research, Joy's foundation and group that she worked with began going to different hearings and presenting their case against Artificial Intelligence. The way AI and different technologies play a major role in society and how they are constantly changing is scary for future generations. 

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