Artificial intelligence, or the simulation of human intelligence processes by machines, once existed only in science fiction novels and movies. But today, the technology is being integrated into more and more applications, influencing how we live our everyday lives. For businesses, AI has become a real competitive advantage. Companies are increasingly looking at how AI will bring value to their operations and customers. In a recent study, 50% of 2,395 respondents reported that their companies had adopted AI in at least one of their business functions.

Amazon announced on Wednesday it was implementing a "one-year moratorium" on police use of Rekognition, its facial-recognition technology. Lawmakers and civil liberties groups have expressed growing alarm over the tool's potential for misuse by law enforcement for years, particularly against communities of color. Now, weeks into worldwide protests against police brutality and racism sparked by the killing of George Floyd, Amazon appears to have acknowledged these concerns. In a short blog post about the decision, the tech giant said it hopes the pause "might give Congress enough time to implement appropriate rules" for the use of facial-recognition technology, which is largely unregulated in the US. Critics have said that the tech could easily be abused by the government, and they cite studies showing tools like Rekognition misidentify people of color at higher rates than white people.

Yesterday, the ACLU published a report showing that Amazon's Rekognition facial mapping software could have some serious problems with accuracy. A test scanned every current member of the House and Senate and compared them to a database of 25,000 mug shots -- and matched 28 of those lawmakers with various mugshots. It hasn't taken long for some politicians to craft a response. Senator Edward Markey (D-MA) and Representatives Luis Gutiérrez (D-IL 4th district) and Mark DeSaulnier (D-CA 11th district) sent a letter to Amazon and Jeff Bezos asking for more information on Rekogntion, specifically concerning its sale to law enforcement agencies. Today's letter from Markey, Gutiérrez and DeSaulnier said that "the efficacy and impact of [facial recognition] technology are not yet fully understood," going on to note that "serious concerns have been raised about the dangers facial recognition can pose to privacy and civil rights, especially when it is used as a tool of government surveillance."

Microsoft's facial-recognition technology is getting smarter at recognizing people with darker skin tones. On Tuesday, the company touted the progress, though it comes amid growing worries that these technologies will enable surveillance against people of color. Microsoft's announcement didn't broach the concerns; the company merely addressed how its facial-recognition tech could misidentify both men and women with darker skin tones. Microsoft has recently reduced the system's error rates by up to 20 times. In February, research from MIT and Stanford University highlighted how facial-recognition technologies can be built with bias. The study found that Microsoft's own system was 99 percent accurate when it came to identifying the gender of lighter-skinned people, but only 87 percent accurate for darker-skinned subjects.

The Orlando Police Department said it would not immediately renew a pilot program with Amazon.com for controversial facial-recognition technology, a decision that civil rights advocates claimed as a victory. Orlando had deployed software, known as Rekognition, in five cameras at police headquarters and three cameras downtown during a six-month trial period. "The City of Orlando is always looking for new solutions to further our ability to keep our residents and visitors safe," the city of Orlando and the Orlando Police Department said in a joint statement Monday. "Partnering with innovative companies to test new technology -- while also ensuring we uphold privacy laws and in no way violate the rights of others -- is critical to us as we work to further keep our community safe." The existence of the pilot program was first revealed last month, when the American Civil Liberties Union published documents detailing Amazon's sale of powerful facial-recognition tools to several law enforcement agencies, including in Orlando and Washington County, Ore.

This smart doll demonstrates a new cheap, privacy-oriented computer vision platform in action. OK, let's get this out the way up top: A robot doll that can sense your child's emotions and change how it behaves accordingly sounds like the kind of high-concept horror movie a Hollywood screenwriter would pitch after binge-watching Westworld and a Chucky marathon. In reality, it describes research being carried out by investigators at the University of Castilla-La Mancha in Ciudad Real, Spain. What they've built as a proof of concept is an artificially intelligent doll that can recognize eight different emotions and runs on an AI chip costing just 115 euros (around $130). Emotion recognition is carried out through facial-recognition technology, via a camera hidden in the doll's mouth.