AI-designed face paint inspired by Juggalos could potentially fool the 15,000 facial recognition cameras at the Qatar World Cup

What if simple face paint could fool some of the best facial recognition tools available at the Qatar World Cup? A team at creative agency Virtue Worldwide sought to answer that question with a project called Camoflags: AI-generated, Juggalo-inspired face paint designs that could be used to evade facial recognition cameras. The experiment is uniquely suited to the World Cup, as face paint is a common feature at soccer matches for fans showing support for their teams. The Qatar World Cup, which ends on December 18, has been criticized for its approach to security, with concerns that the event could become a hotbed for espionage and that visitors could be monitored on their phones through app surveillance. The event has also been criticized for human rights abuses: The death of American sports journalist Grant Wahl, who died on the way to the hospital after collapsing at the World Cup stadium, resulted in renewed attention on the rights of LGBTQ individuals in Qatar.