The Insidious Side Effect of Using Facial Recognition Technology on Pigs

Facial recognition technology, traditionally both marketed and feared as a way to exponentially enhance surveillance capabilities, may one day become integral for producing pork. According to a report from the New York Times, major Chinese tech companies like Alibaba and JD.com are developing artificial intelligence tools to detect disease and keep track of individual pigs using facial recognition. China hopes the technology will make large farms more manageable, allowing it to consolidate and close smaller facilities. The government claims that the move would cut down on pollution. Pig facial recognition would be invaluable to precision livestock farming, an animal husbandry practice most common in European countries and China that uses tracking technologies to maximize efficiency.