Innovatrics: Trustworthy facial recognition systems

The Ethics and Human Values in Technology team has been closely collaborating with our partner Innovatrics on moral reflection of facial recognition systems.  In a series of collaborative workshops we work closely with Innovatrics employees who are involved in various stages of the development process of SmartFace – a facial recognition system that support instant identification for access control, surveillance, video investigation, and other purposes. 

Biometric technology and facial recognition especially are becoming widely available and used in everyday situations. Facial recognition has the potential to bring a lot of benefits to society, such as increased safety and convenience. At the same time there are rising concerns related to the potential harms that facial recognition and its use could cause. 

Guided by the European Assessment List for Trustworthy AI (ALTAI) we have identified various moral and societal issues with respect to stakeholders who are affected by facial recognition technology. We focus on moral risks and undesired harms that might arise during the development and use of SmartFace on most prominent stakeholder groups. At the core of these workshops is the understanding that proactive approach towards moral principles  and values in AI development has the potential to bring the right design changes and appropriate measures into play.