Face recognition is a hot topic of discussion in the media. There are two kinds of people in the world: those who reject this technology implementation at all and those who embrace its extensive use. The root cause of division into two opposite camps lies within questioning the use norms related to this solution. As an NNTC expert and a person doing his part in the development of such new technologies and products I feel like adoption of this technology is inevitable. And I’ll tell you why.
Face recognition is a powerful tool, an achievement being impossible without scientific and technological progress. Like nuclear energy or microchips, face recognition is merely a tool in the hands of people who are to decide how to use it. Ever since the invention of fire, humanity has never regressed to raw meat. The same applies to artificial intelligence. Having discovered such a technology to simplify our lives, we will not forgo computer-aided translation or voice assistants in our smart homes. Fire warms your home, but can burn it if handled carelessly. Anyway, fire has become the new normal the humanity deals with so far. Face recognition systems are this very fire. Use it or abuse it, there is the fact you can’t deny: face recognition is becoming the norm, just like identification based on pictures, fingerprints, and, eventually, DNA.
At NNTC, we develop solutions to improve safety and quality of life.Personally, I think of face recognition as a technology capable of saving lives. Hazardous production facilities need our solutions to reduce accident risks. Face recognition is actively used and successfully contributes to public safety: catching of criminals, searching for missing persons and stolen cars. Security services have been using this technology for quite some time, and it is becoming more affordable, as technology advances. Personal touch matters too. By introducing this technology, we speed up flight check-in and boarding; shops and restaurants recognize and welcome their regular customers. Imagine going to a coffee shop of your favorite chain, particularly located on the other side of town, and casually saying “I’ll have the usual.” How do you like this?
The list of examples goes on, with numerous face recognition use cases to appear soon, but it is up to people how to apply this technology. Here comes a sensitive subject.
Are there any legal regulations for the use of face recognition systems? Is the world ready to… face this new norm? The world strongly relies on innovations, but it fails to keep up with the rampant spread of new technologies. When lawful use of face recognition is officially applied, people will take it easy and feel comfortable with it. Until then, they will see it rather as a threat, though, the point of face recognition is improving quality of life and increasing public safety. This you can see as a very common paradox when you manage people’s personal data. We’ve seen this with internet and social networks many times where talks about privacy continue. And I’m sure we will see a lot more of discussions on this topic, than we have now, but I keep a positive attitude towards future and truly believe that tomorrow will bring this new norm into our lives!
