Facing Bias in Facial Recognition Technology

Experts advocate robust regulation of facial recognition technology to reduce discriminatory outcomes. After Detroit police arrested Robert Williams for another person's crime, officers reportedly showed him the surveillance video image of another Black man that they had used to identify Williams. The image prompted him to ask the officers if they thought "all Black men look alike." Police falsely arrested Williams after facial recognition technology matched him to the image of a suspect--an image that Williams maintains did not look like him. Some experts see the potential of artificial intelligence to bypass human error and biases.