Signal 3: Should we embrace the era of facial recognition?

Equipped with the fast-developing artificial intelligence and deep learning technology, the Chinese government is building a vast surveillance network covering every piece of land in China. Over 170 million security cameras in China now support the facial recognition technology to help the combination of the network.

The advantages of developing facial recognition are obvious and tremendous. Urban public safety could be significantly enhanced when the police could quickly spot any suspicious people or actions happening around. Besides, possible misactions or crimes could also get reduced. Imagine you are trying to cross the road in red light but you know there is a camera somewhere watching you. Most of us will stop and wait until the light turns green so that the possible accident will be stopped in advance.

However, complaints also arise about this technology. One of the most common complaints is that citizens could lose their privacies. According to the Chinese government, they will not get the data from the ordinary citizens as long as he or she isn't involved in a crime. Nevertheless, most of the people don’t buy it.

Personally, I believe China is undertaking a critical experiment. Applying artificial intelligence to our lives is an inevitable trend and I believe every government should make good use of it to better help its citizens. As long as the government could safely protect our data and use them under the supervision of the public, I believe the artificial intelligence could definitely bring us more benefits in the future.

Reference:

Jacobs, H. (2018, July 15). China’s ‘Big Brother’ surveillance technology isn’t nearly as all-seeing as the government wants you to think. Retrieved from https://www.businessinsider.com/china-facial-recognition-limitations-2018-7