Vendor adamantly opposed to use of technology for mass surveillance, racial profiling.
In a letter to the United States Congress, technology giant IBM has declared it will no longer offer its general-purpose IBM facial recognition or analysis software.
Arvind Krishna CEO at IBM stated it “firmly opposes and will not condone uses of any technology, including facial recognition technology offered by other vendors, for mass surveillance, racial profiling, violations of basic human rights and freedoms, or any purpose which is not consistent with our values and Principles of Trust and Transparency”.
“We believe now is the time to begin a national dialogue on whether and how facial recognition technology should be employed by domestic law enforcement agencies,” he said. “Artificial Intelligence is a powerful tool that can help law enforcement keep citizens safe. But vendors and users of Al systems have a shared responsibility to ensure that Al is tested for bias, particularity when used in law enforcement, and that such bias testing is audited and reported.”
According to Krishna national policy also should encourage and advance uses of technology that bring greater transparency and accountability to policing, such as body cameras and modern data analytics techniques.
The decision comes after civil unrest in America, due to the killing of an African American man, George Floyd by a police officer.
Earlier this year IBM and Microsoft signed an “ethical resolution” with the Vatican to develop artificial intelligence in a way that will protect the planet and the rights of all people.
The document supported an ethical approach to AI and promoted a sense of responsibility among organisations, governments, and institutions with the aim to create a future in which digital innovation and technological progress serve human genius and creativity and not their gradual replacement.
In Asia facial recognition technology has been widely used by governments in China, Japan, India, Singapore, Vietnam, and South Korea for various reasons from ethnic identification to patient hospitilisation.
