03 September 2020
The Digital Freedom Fund argue that problems with facial recognition technology cannot simply be fixed by trying to remove "bias" or ensure "fairness", and that instead a more holistic approach to the development and use of new technologies is required.
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"In response to the recent outcry, a handful of tech corporations announced they were hitting pause on facial recognition for the next year . In some ways, it’s a promising development: a win for activists who’ve been tirelessly pushing back against facial recognition for years.
But, on the flipside, a year isn’t a very long time — and what is arguably one publicity stunt by a handful of companies doesn’t quite get to the heart of what makes facial recognition so worrying.
This isn’t just cynicism or “whataboutery”. Contrary to popular assumption, it’s not always easy to simply make facial recognition systems “less biased”. Many experts argue that the belief that the systems can easily be fixed with a few tweaks or by inputting “cleaner” data is extremely short-sighted.
“Where would this clean data come from?” asks [Gracie] Bradley. “The real issue is that you’d have to eradicate discrimination in society before.”"
Beyond Bias: Why We Can’t Just “Fix” Facial Recognition (Medium, link)
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