I wish I could say that I was shocked that the victim of bad facial recognition is black. I wish I could say that I'm shocked that authorities take the word of software over looking at the evidence and thinking, "umm, doesn't look like him..." Or perhaps someone did look and said, "meh, they all look the same to me."
All I know is that I'm highly skeptical that this white guy would suffer the same fate, even if I were to have a similar criminal record. Facial recognition seems to be the polygraph for a new century. But unlike a polygraph, it mostly false positives only for dark-skinned people. While I'm not quite ready to allow my cynicism to let me think it is an intentional feature, I question how many are demanding a fix.
All I know is that I'm highly skeptical that this white guy would suffer the same fate, even if I were to have a similar criminal record. Facial recognition seems to be the polygraph for a new century. But unlike a polygraph, it mostly false positives only for dark-skinned people. While I'm not quite ready to allow my cynicism to let me think it is an intentional feature, I question how many are demanding a fix.