The UAE Can Lead in Facial Recognition

Part of the problem with the development of AI in general and facial recognition, in particular, is that it has been confined to cities like San Francisco. The UAE is positioned to change this.

By Xische Editorial, May 26, 2021

Source: Midjouney by author

Let’s face it, facial recognition technology is controversial, and it will likely stay that way for quite some time. A significant factor driving this connotation is China’s widespread use of facial recognition to track and monitor its citizens. In recent years, other concerns have arisen as rights organizations have raised issues about how facial recognition can demonstrate technical bias against women and people of color. Despite these legitimate points, the facial recognition industry is booming and expanding, particularly in North America. In other words, the technology is here to stay. So it’s about time to address the concerns and make the necessary changes.

According to the Financial Times, the value of the facial recognition market is expected to double in size over the next five years in North America. As we noted, China has been a world leader in this technology for years. The real story here is the impressive market growth in the United States and Canada. There is a significant difference between North America and China that bears highlighting. In China, facial recognition technology is part of a more considerable government effort to expand the country’s artificial intelligence sector. 

Through heavy government research funding and investment in facial recognition companies, the Chinese have released applications that help the government boost surveillance quickly. In the United States, by comparison, most AI development and facial recognition programs take place in the private sector. Thus, the focus is on more commercial applications (think Amazon’s Ring doorbell instead of a camera monitoring a sidewalk in Beijing). 

As with other forms of AI, facial recognition is only as good as its code, and code is written by human beings (at least for the moment). That means if a coder or a programmer has some sort of bias, it can easily be written into code. This is problematic as several studies have found that facial recognition algorithms perform poorly for many non-white groups. One study conducted by the National Institute of Standards and Technology at the US department of commerce found that Indians were almost three times more likely to be incorrectly recognized than whites. The Financial Times reports that the “American Civil Liberties Union in a 2018 test found Amazon’s “Rekognition” software mismatched 28 members of Congress, identifying them as other people who had been arrested. More than a third of those false matches were people of color.”

Just because AI is getting it wrong with facial recognition doesn’t mean that the technology can’t change. Given the projected growth in the sector, there is ample financial motivation for improvements to this technology. And who is better to address the problem head-on than the UAE. With more than 200 nationalities living in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, the UAE has a diverse population ideal for testing new forms of facial recognition. Moreover, the country has already adopted facial recognition in many areas of society. From airport arrivals and passport checks to other forms of surveillance, facial recognition is everywhere in the UAE. 

In March 2020, Abu Dhabi police unveiled new patrol cars with live biometric facial recognition systems. Public transport in Dubai is in the process of unveiling a facial recognition system to boost security. This February, the UAE cabinet approved facial recognition in specific sectors to verify identity and cut down on paperwork. 

The government is pushing to incorporate technology into more and more sectors of society. What’s needed now is more investment and research funding into UAE-based startups that solve the problem of bias in facial recognition and AI. Given the market research and data that local startups can do, the UAE’s technology sector could benefit significantly from more focused support in facial recognition. The innovations achieved in the UAE could then feed into this booming sector worldwide. Part of the problem with the development of AI in general and facial recognition, in particular, is that it has been confined to cities like San Francisco. The UAE is positioned to change this. The country has the know-how, the diversity, and the funding to make facial recognition more equitable for all.