AI-based emotion recognition technology has been criticized several times, and now scientists want to make the road even more difficult for the technology.
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Emotion recognition AI, designed to recognize human emotions using machine learning , is a huge industry that is believed to have the potential to help in many areas of everyday life. However, its critics say the technology not only raises privacy concerns, but is also inaccurate and reinforces racial bias.
Recently, a team of researchers created a website, known as emojify.info, where the public can test emotion recognition systems using their own cameras. One game focuses on making faces to trick the technology, while another explores how these systems can struggle to read more complex facial expressions.
The team's leader and researcher at the University of Cambridge, Dr Alexa Hagerty, said she hopes this research will start more discussions around this issue.
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Facial recognition AI technology, often used to identify people, has come under intense scrutiny in recent years. Last year, the Equality and Human Rights Commission said its use for mass surveillance should be stopped, saying it could increase police discrimination and harm freedom of expression.
However, Hagerty said many people didn't realize how common emotion recognition systems were, noting that they are used in a number of situations, from employee recruitment to airport security to education.
Such technology is being used around the world, from Europe to the US and China. Taigusys, a company that specializes in emotion recognition systems, says it has used them in places ranging from care homes to prisons, while earlier this year, the Indian city of Lucknow was reported to be planning to use the technology to detect distress in women due to harassment, a move that has faced criticism, including from digital rights groups.
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While Hagerty said emotion recognition technology may have some potential benefits, these must be weighed against concerns about accuracy, racial bias, and whether the technology is the right tool for a particular task.
"We need to have a broader public debate about these technologies," the researcher said.
