Is It Really You?

Is It Really You?

Design Studio MAST were fascinated by the developing story around facial recognition technology and its deployment in different security areas. Apartment entrance systems, your phone’s password system, security cameras and dash cams can all use facial recognition to identify people and this information is often used in criminal investigations. The biometric tool has, however, received scathing critique. In a study from Essex University it was reported that the technology was effective only 19% of the time, meaning that the vast majority of matches were actually false-positives. You could be walking to shops and suddenly pulled aside and interrogated by a police officer based entirely off of the suggested facial match from this system. More concerning is the fact that when it comes to faces with darker skin tones, the systems become worse at making positive matches, questioning the racial implications of such systems. 

Studio Mast’s Is It Really You? asks us to consider the implications of using AI facial recognition systems to profile people without their permission. The light mask represents the lines and dots of the facial recognition program. As the light lines blur and form, different faces start to appear on the biometric mask. As AI continues to form the basis of new tools that regulate our criminal, security and justice systems we have to ask ourselves if it's the tools themselves that need to be regulated - more so than us. The question remains, if it’s only 19% accurate, is it really you?