One night in February final yr, a 23-year-old Uber driver named Niradi Srikanth was on the point of begin one other shift, ferrying passengers across the south Indian metropolis of Hyderabad. He pointed the telephone at his face to take a selfie to confirm his identification. The method often labored seamlessly. However this time he was unable to log in.
Srikanth suspected it was as a result of he had not too long ago shaved his head. After additional makes an attempt to log in have been rejected, Uber knowledgeable him that his account had been blocked. He’s not alone. In a survey performed by MIT Know-how Overview of 150 Uber drivers within the nation, nearly half had been both briefly or completely locked out of their accounts due to issues with their selfie.
A whole bunch of 1000’s of India’s gig financial system staff are on the mercy of facial recognition know-how, with few authorized, coverage or regulatory protections. For staff like Srikanth, getting blocked from or kicked off a platform can have devastating penalties. Learn the complete story.
—Varsha Bansal
I met a police drone in VR—and hated it
Police departments internationally are embracing drones, deploying them for every part from surveillance and intelligence gathering to even chasing criminals. But none of them appear to be looking for out how encounters with drones go away individuals feeling—or whether or not the know-how will assist or hinder policing work.
A staff from College Faculty London and the London College of Economics is filling within the gaps, finding out how individuals react when assembly police drones in digital actuality, and whether or not they come away feeling roughly trusting of the police.Â
MIT Know-how Overview’s Melissa Heikkilä got here away from her encounter with a VR police drone feeling unnerved. If others really feel the identical method, the massive query is whether or not these drones are efficient instruments for policing within the first place. Learn the complete story.
Melissa’s story is from The Algorithm, her weekly publication protecting AI and its results on society. Enroll to obtain it in your inbox each Monday.
