The benefits of facial recognition AI are being wildly overstated

Facial recognition technology has run amok across the globe. In the US it continues to perpetuate at an alarming rate despite bipartisan push-back from politicians and several geographical bans. Even China's government has begun to question whether there's enough benefit to the use of ubiquitous surveillance tech to justify the utter destruction of public privacy. The truth of the matter is that facial recognition technology serves only two legitimate purposes: access control and surveillance. And, far too often, the people developing the technology aren't the ones who ultimately determine how it's used. Most decent, law-abiding citizens don't mind being filmed in public and, to a certain degree, would tend to take no exception to the use of facial recognition technology in places where it makes sense.