The facial recognition software created by Amazon, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) has shown to be much more ineffective than previously expected. Amazon’s software is actively being used in different organizations and some police departments around the United States. However, the New York Times reported yesterday that a recent study was done using the software and the results showed major red flags—enough that the Amazon facial recognition software fails expectations.
Amazon Facial Recognition Software Fails Expectations
According to the American Civil Liberties Union, a study was done comparing all photos of federal lawmakers against a large database of 25,000 publically available mug shots.
The test showed that Amazon’s tech had incorrectly matched 28 members of Congress with individuals that had been previously arrested, yielding a 5 percent error rate among the legislators. The software disproportionally misidentified Latino and African-American members of Congress as the people in the mug shots.
Nina Lindsey, an Amazon Web Services spokeswoman, responded to the study in a statement by saying the facial recognition goes far beyond just identifying criminals. The software is used for reuniting missing children with their families and also preventing human trafficking.
“It is worth noting that in real-world scenarios, Amazon Rekognition is almost exclusively used to help narrow the field and allow humans to expeditiously review and consider options using their judgment,” Lindsey said.
For example, police departments don’t use Amazon’s software to make fully autonomous decisions about people’s identities, but more use it as a tool to assist.
Over the last few months, the company has faced serious pressure for selling its facial recognition software to law enforcement agencies. Back in May, two dozen civil liberties groups wrote a letter to the company’s CEO, Jeff Bezos, demanding that his company stop selling the facial recognition technology to law enforcement agencies.
AMZN Stock Movement
According to Yahoo Finance, Amazon’s stock is trading in the red today. At press time, AMZN’s stock is trading at $1,827.76 a share, down -$34.60 (-1.88%).
It remains unknown if the latest New York Times report has driven the company’s stock price down today.
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