FACIAL RECOGNITION

According to a new article published in The NYT, Google and Meta developed facial recognition tech that was so powerful (and dangerous) that they not only stopped it from being released, but also snapped up other startups working on the same tech and shut down their services to outsiders as well.

According to the article, Meta was working on a hat with a camera that could identify people and Google was working on an app that could help you find pictures of anyone you wanted.

While there are some benefits to the tech - like helping blind people identify others or helping someone find a colleague at a crowded conference - the potentially dangerous use cases kept the companies from making the tech widely available.

But with the emergence and widespread availability of AI models that make this tech easily accessible, we could soon see devices and apps with facial recognition features everywhere. In fact, some police forces around the world are already using software like this to solve crimes and apps like PimEyes can help you find pictures of people online.

It’s too soon to tell how beneficial or dangerous this coming wave of facial recognition apps and devices could be, but it’s surely going to add to the already-heated debate about the role of technology in the erosion of personal privacy.