Uber's plans to identify drunk passengers could endanger women Emily Reynolds

It's impossible to say exactly how much money Uber makes from drunk people, but if the number of bleary-eyed people wandering around on Friday and Saturday nights trying to find their summoned cars is anything to go by, it's probably quite a lot. The company clearly knows its audience: this week, it applied for a patent for an AI that could spot drunk or high passengers simply by the way they walked, typed or held their phone. According to the patent, the AI could measure a user's walking speed, watch for unusual typos or sense whether a phone is swaying or being held at an unusual angle. This, it suggests, could "predict user state using machine learning" and recognise "uncharacteristic user states". The company almost certainly believes that this information would be used for good, and it's undeniable that the option to avoid intoxicated passengers would come as a blessed relief to many drivers.