Manjeet Rege, software engineering and data science professor at the University of St. Thomas School of Engineering, recently spoke with WCCO-TV for a story about concerns over new facial recognition software at the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota.
From the story:
Dr. Manjeet Rege, director of the Center for Applied Artificial Intelligence at the University of St. Thomas, said he does not have concerns about the technology’s use at the mall, citing the mall’s statement that it does not retain the data of those captured on camera, but instead uses the live feed to find matches against an existing “person of interest” database.
He noted that facial recognition isn’t anything new. It’s used in airports, to unlock cellphones, and to identify friends on Facebook when someone is uploading a photo to the platform. But he said the technology has improved significantly so some algorithms have nearly 100% accuracy.
If that video was stored without the consent of people visiting the mall, that would be a concern, he said. But in this case, he believes it’s an example of using AI for good.
“There’s only so much human security can do, so it is extremely important that we deploy technology for everyone’s safety,” Rege said. “And this is a very good step in that regard.”
