AI can see you

Asophisticated and frightening face-recognition algorithm being employed by technology firms could be the end of privacy as we know it

- ROHINI KRISHNAMURTHY

Your Face Belongs to Us: The Secretive Startup Dismantling Your Privacy
by Kashmir Hill
Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK

WHEN KASHMIR Hill, a technology journalist at The New York Times, tried on a W pair of chunky augmented reality glasses in 2021, she caught a glimpse of what a sophisticated technology could unleash on a world that is not prepared to handle it. The glasses were no ordinary gadget; they revealed to the wearer the identity of any individual seen in the frame. They also displayed photos of the person uploaded on the internet, along with data on where they were clicked.

Powering these augmented reality glasses is an artificial intelligence algorithm designed by Clearview AI, a New York city-based facial recognition technology startup, founded in 2017. The company would go on to sign a contract with the US Air Force to research augmented reality glasses to help with security on military bases. Hoan Ton-That, an Australian national who is the CEO and co-founder of the company, tells Hill that the idea behind the gadget was to help soldiers decide whether someone standing at a distance of 15 m was dangerous or not.

But concerns over the technology's possible misuse are largely ignored by the entrepreneur, who is keen on convincing people why they need to make their faces available for the world to see. This is something that Hill effectively brings out in her book Your Face Belongs to Us.