Efforts to understand impact of AI on society put pressure on biometrics industry to sort out priorities, role

Companies involved in face biometrics and other artificial intelligence applications have not come to a consensus on what ethical principles to prioritize, which may cause problems for them as policymakers move to set regulations, according to a new report from EY. Facial recognition check-ins for venues such as airports, hotels and banks, and law enforcement surveillance, including the use of face biometrics, are two of a dozen specific use cases considered in the study. The report'Bridging AI's trust gaps' was developed by EY in collaboration with The Future Society, suggests companies developing and providing AI technologies are misaligned with policymakers, which is creating new risks for them. Third parties may have a role to play in bridging the trust gap, such as with an equivalent to'organic' or'fairtrade' labels, EY argues. For biometric facial recognition, 'fairness and avoiding bias' is the top priority for policymakers, followed by'privacy and data rights' and'transparency.' Among companies, privacy and data rights tops the list followed by'safety and security,' and then transparency.