Chinese police to use facial recognition technology to send jaywalkers instant fines by text

Traffic police in China are to begin using facial-recognition technology to identify jaywalkers and automatically issue them fines by text. Authorities in Shenzhen already publicly name and shame people who flout the southern city's strict road rules, using CCTV cameras equipped with artificial intelligence (AI) that can recognise offenders. Their faces are then displayed on large screens at crossings and on a government website. Now, the company which provides the technology is in talks with mobile phone carriers and social media firms about developing a system that notifies jaywalkers through instant messages when they are caught by the cameras, crossing the road outside of a marked pedestrian crosswalk at an intersection. "Jaywalking has always been an issue in China and can hardly be resolved just by imposing fines or taking photos of the offenders," Wang Jun, director of marketing solutions at Shenzhen-based AI firm Intellifusion, told the South China Morning Post.