TO: Professor Ellis
FROM: Devina Budhan
DATE: September 17, 2019
SUBJECT: 500-Word Summary of Margot Douaihy’s “Facing the Future: Harnessing the Power of Facial Detection and Facial Recognition in Pro AV”
“Facing the Future: Harnessing the Power of Facial Detection and Facial Recognition in Pro AV,” by Margot Douaihy discusses biometric AI (artificial intelligence) technology in terms of facial recognition and detection as well as its security and privacy. In today’s world we rely a lot on AI such as Amazon’s Alexa or Google Assistant and more. However, facial recognition and detection has been the newest and steady growing tech of AI starting from 2017 when smartphones started implementing this feature as a password. I will explain further the difference between facial recognition and detection as well as the legality of it in terms of security and privacy.
Facial detection is software that can detect a human face by using AV (audio/video). Facial recognition uses a data base to match faces that facial detection picks up by analyzing patterns and features on a person’s face. The senior director of marketing for ELAN, a company for home security system, states that detection is nothing more than what detects human faces in AV whereas recognition takes it a step further to identify whose face is who. Both recognition and detection work hand in hand because without one you are unable to find the other.
However, the senior technical account manager of Samsung SDS America, Joseph Warner, has a different view of facial recognition and detection. According to him, “The Samsung Nexshop analytics solution doesn’t use facial recognition. We use PII-compliant facial analysis…” (Douaihy, 2019, pg. 6). In other words, PII (personally identifiable information) uses an algorithm that analyzes facial features and assigns the person a code such as “male” or “female” without really identifying who they are. Going back to the company ELAN, they believe by using facial recognition and detection, they can personalize the control experience. For example, an employee at a bar or restaurant will have their own profile that gives them access to certain features provided by their manager to help better accommodate their customers without risking others getting into their profiles hence facial recognition.
On the other hand, this brings up the issue of security and privacy. Warner, from Samsung SDS America, made it clear that people’s information collected from the Nexshop sensor is not specific and is actually anonymized when information is collected. Instead of specifically labeling who they are, each feature of that person is given an identification number where it still remains anonymous and safe. Many people are not happy with being recorded or having any kind of picture taken but, in this day, and age, especially in big business everyone is being recorded all the time. However, to compromise with the privacy issue, big corporations tend to have their workforce sign off on a policy that states it will protect their identity by data retention.
Margot Douaihy’s “Facing the Future: Harnessing the Power of Facial Detection and Facial Recognition in Pro AV,” focuses on how biometric AI technology has grown and along with that growth so does the issue of security and privacy. The article explains how AI of facial recognition and detection can put a person’s information out there but at the same time I disagree and believe that this new form of AI can be quite efficient. Yes, it may be costly at first but once the system has all the information it needs in terms of facial features and patterns, it can help speed up the processes of punching a timecard or having someone steal your information. It also negates the notion of passwords in which this day and age a lot of people have issues with because they forget it and constantly have to reset before it locks them out and then turns into a bigger mess. AI in terms of facial recognition and detection is still fairly new in present day, however I believe it will be a breakthrough in the near future once it is perfected in terms of security and privacy.
Reference:
Doaihy, M. (2019). Facing the Future: Harnessing the Power of Facial Detection and Facial Recognition in Pro AV. TWICE: This Week in Consumer Electronics, 34(13), 6-7
