IBM CEO Arvind Krishna in a letter to the U.S. Congress said the tech giant is ditching its work with general purpose facial recognition or analysis software tied to the use of such technology for surveillance activity that can be used for racial profiling or to violate “basic human rights and freedoms.” The move comes as a number of technology companies have reacted to the recent murder of George Floyd by the Minneapolis Police Department and subsequent protests against discrimination and police brutality.
In the letter, Krishna said that in addition to IBM not offering facial recognition or analysis software, it also “opposes and will not condone uses of any technology … offered by other vendors” for the purpose of “mass surveillance, racial profiling, violations of basic human rights and freedoms, or any purpose which is not consistent with our values and Principles of Trust and Transparency.”
“Artificial intelligence is a powerful tool that can help law enforcement keep citizens safe,” Krishna wrote. “But vendors and users of Al systems have a shared responsibility to ensure that Al is tested for bias, particularity when used in law enforcement, and that such bias testing is audited and reported.”
IBM has been a proponent of AI throughout various parts of its business.
It recently highlighted the use of AI as part of its COVID-19 HPC Consortium that was established to study the virus. Krishna also cited IBM’s AI work alongside that of its cloud, blockchain, and quantum computing efforts in re-orienting the company toward hybrid-cloud deployments.
The ability for facial recognition technology to discern between different races and genders have been an ongoing issue. IBM admitted to CNBC last year that it was working to broaden the data sets available for training of its facial recognition efforts. That came on the heels of an MIT report that found AI facial recognition technology more error prone when dealing with race and gender outside of light-skinned males.
Krishna did add in the letter that Congress should establish national policy that encourages the use of technology to provide more transparency and accountability to policing.
Krishna also cited IBM’s history of supporting civil rights, including early company leaders citing their support for those rights in letters to employees and IBM’s refusal to enforce Jim Crow laws at company facilities.
Police Reform and Education
The move to cut IBM’s work with facial recognition or analysis software was one of three policy areas Krishna wrote he wanted to see Congress focus on “in pursuit of justice and racial equality.” The others are police reform and expanding opportunities.
In terms of police reform, Krishna said that Congress should be more aggressive in pursuing police misconduct cases under federal courts. He also asked that Congress set up a federal registry of police misconduct and compel states and local municipalities to review their use-of-force policies.
Krishna also called for the need to create more training and education opportunities for communities of color. He cited IBM’s own view for “new collar” jobs that “require specialized skills but not necessarily a traditional 4-year college degree. Such jobs can still be found today in fast-growing fields from cybersecurity to cloud computing.”
The letter was the first official comment from IBM on the topic since Floyd was murdered on May 25.
Technology firms last week began to release statements in support of the protests that have begun since the event. Cisco, for instance, last week postponed its Cisco Live virtual event in light of the civil unrest and announced plans to donate $5 million to groups including the Equal Justice Initiative, the NAACP’s Legal Defense Fund, Color of Change, and Black Lives Matter.
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IBM Stops Facial Recognition Support for Surveillance Activity - SDxCentral
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