Forensics

Facial recognition to 'predict criminals' sparks row over AI bias

A US university's claim it can use facial recognition to "predict criminality" has renewed debate over racial bias in technology.

Harrisburg University researchers said their software "can predict if someone is a criminal, based solely on a picture of their face".

The software "is intended to help law enforcement prevent crime", it said.

But 1,700 academics have signed an open letter demanding the research remains unpublished.

One Harrisburg research member, a former police officer, wrote: "Identifying the criminality of [a] person from their facial image will enable a significant advantage for law-enforcement agencies and other intelligence agencies to prevent crime from occurring."

The researchers claimed their software operates "with no racial bias".

But the organisers of the open letter, the Coalition for Critical Technology, said: "Such claims are based on unsound scientific premises, research, and methods, which numerous studies spanning our respective disciplines have debunked over the years.