An increasing number of policymakers are turning to artificial intelligence to fight and prevent...
An English summary of this report is below. To read the original story in German, visit Deutschlandfunk Kultur.
Facial recognition based on photos or AI is a controversial but widely used practice in Brazil. It is often motivated by racism.
It is standard police procedure to show photos of possible suspects to victims and witnesses after a crime. Usually, this identification is followed by further criminal investigation. Not necessarily in Brazil: There, eyewitness identification is often used as the only evidence. This is despite the fact that eyewitness memory is not perfect.
In the South American country, the problem is compounded by a controversial police practice: Authorities mix social media photos with suspect images, which are presented to witnesses and victims to help identify the perpetrator. In this way, innocent people can be identified as perpetrators out of nowhere. This radio feature on Deutschlandfunk Kultur meets two innocent people who were arrested using this technology - and explains what it has to do with racism, artificial intelligence, and facial recognition on the street.
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