Reply to post: "Most-accurate algorithms showed 'little to no bias', so nothing to fear, eh?"

Facial-recognition algos vary wildly, US Congress told, as politicians try to come up with new laws on advanced tech

Mike 137 Silver badge

"Most-accurate algorithms showed 'little to no bias', so nothing to fear, eh?"

While I have deep sympathy for those affected by bias exhibited by facial recognition systems, bias is by no means the whole, or even the most significant problem. The biggest thing we should be afraid of (and resist to the utmost) is the virtual Panopticon - never being able to do anything unsupervised by covert unknown parties.

CCTV already tracks almost all our movements in urban environments, but once an identity gets attached we will constantly live in fear of being challenged over any trivial thing the bureaucrats think up. The stifling effect of this (albeit accomplished by other means) can be seen in recent and current totalitarian states. Although these examples may seem extreme, it's inevitable that once the capacity is in place, ever more numerous uses will be found for it until we land in 1984 (but for everyone, not just the elite).

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