IBM announced on Monday its intention to discontinue the sale of face recognition software for general purposes as the protests against racism and police violence follow each other in the United States for the past two weeks. The us computer giant, said to be firmly opposed “to the use of any technology for the monitoring of mass, racial profiling, violations of human rights and human freedoms base or any purpose contrary to our values”, in a letter to members of Congress by the chief executive of IBM, IBM’s Arvind Krishna. “We believe that this is the time to open a national dialogue on facial recognition technologies to determine if they should be used, and how, by the forces of order,” he said.

facial recognition is based on technologies of artificial intelligence (AI). It can be used to authenticate the users of a service (smartphone, payment system…), but also to identify individuals within a group of individuals are present physically or in a database of photos, for example. Facial recognition can help the police to protect the communities but should not promote discrimination or racial injustice”, explains Arvind Krishna. “The suppliers and the customers users of artificial intelligence share the responsibility to ensure that the AI is not biased, especially when it comes to applying the law.”

read also : The facial recognition, not so reliable

The United States is shaken by a wave of protests against institutionalized racism and police brutality since the death of George Floyd, an African-American, was asphyxiated by a white policeman in Minneapolis on may 25. The boss of IBM request the Congress to ensure that the mobile cameras worn by the agents and the analysis tools allow to make account to the police in case of need. Neema Singh Guliani, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), believes that the facial recognition should not be integrated in these cameras at all.

“We must invest in technologies that can help address the digital divide, not technologies that create a surveillance infrastructure and exacerbate the abuses of the police and the structural racism”, she argued in a press release issued in response to the measures of police reform proposed in Congress. ACLU challenges regularly technology companies such as Amazon or Microsoft on the uses potentially abusive or harmful to the facial recognition.

60 commentairesAntipourle 09/06/2020 13:18

Great stuffing, this will be through technology transfer to a company screen, no-one is fooled, but if it is pleasing to IBM to make us take bladders for lanterns”, to the ball of the hypocrites.

Mr. Refuséle 09/06/2020 13:12

that remains to Do is to know who will replace IBM’s…

PJDle 09/06/2020 13:03

No, they will not be that of the recognition rectal..,

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