While The buzz around AI is settling ,certain narrow field has made some major strides. Natural Language processing (look at GPT-2) and computer have came years forward.
The technology is powerful enough to turn the economic wheels and create The 4th Industrial Revolution
This is a time of frequent massive disruption due to technological breakthroughs.
AI is been seen as a king-maker and in order to gain first movers advantage ambitious China are un-hesitantly deploying half baked technology in scale.
One such example of technology is face recognition.
The same face recognition that you use to unlock your smartphones, even without thinking about is, is all set to start some irreversible societal changes and may led to many unforeseen consequences.
Protest and mass agitation
Protest and democracy go hand in hand. It keeps the one in the top in check and is instrumental in bringing about any social change. What makes protest work is that it lacks a face. While a single person can be put behind the bars quite easily , it is not possible for the administration to manage thousands of people together. This change in the face recognition regime.
Each protestor can now be identified and dealt with individually.
Obscurity and Public anonymity
Public and privacy are thought to be as opposites, but in a way public space provide us a sense of anonymity. When you are in a public bus or a new town we feel anonymous . This anonymity allows us to experiment with different personalities, leading to our personal growth. This anonymity is essential . You are different person at work, with friends and with our family members. One may feel guilty about it but this is fundamental to human experience! It let us grow and experience life in all its flavours.
Looking Forward
Face recognition with all its perils are here to stay. Just like in case with nuclear energy, its for us to decide, if we will allow authoritarian leaders to create powerful surveillance state or use the technology to steer towards a crime-free society.
Regulators have often not been able to catch up with the pace of technological advancements. If not hand-cuffed at its infancy it would provide authoritarian leaders immense surveillance power, rendering democracies meaningless. With emerging technologies democracies need to evolve — one face at time.
