Software

IBM discontinues use of facial recognition in the interest of racial justice

June 11, 2020

IBM has announced that it no longer offers general purpose IBM facial recognition or analysis software.

IBM CEO Arvind Krishna recently sent a letter to Congress outlining policy proposals to advance racial equality in the U.S. which is available on the company's website. He also shared, in the context of addressing responsible use of technology by law enforcement, that IBM has sunset its general purpose facial recognition.

Krishna said IBM firmly opposes and will not condone uses of any technology, including facial recognition technology offered by other vendors, for mass surveillance, racial profiling, violations of basic human rights and freedoms.

"We believe now is the time to begin a national dialogue on whether and how facial recognition technology should be employed by domestic law enforcement agencies," he wrote.

Artificial Intelligence is a powerful tool that can help law enforcement keep citizens safe, Krishna noted. "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," he said.

Krishna said national policy also should encourage uses of technology that bring greater transparency and accountability to policing, such as body cameras and modern data analytics techniques.