Eyebot research
News Reports
FACIAL RECOGNITION ROLLS OUT. Commissioner McConnaugh of the NYPD announced at a press conference today that a new wave of facial recognition drones would be employed by police services. "These new guys, we're calling them 'eyebots', they can move where stationary cameras can't, and can identify known troublemakers. They lead to a much lower rate of false alarms, and a much higher rate of successful convictions without an increase in wrongful arrest. I know there have been concerns, but overall these little guys make us all safer, not just from criminals but from human error as well." (149 newspapers.json)
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EYEBOTS SEE WIDESPREAD USE. A recent survey of police departments in the Eastern US found that over 85% of police stations, even in small towns, now contain at least one flight of facial recognition drones. "They're awesome," Sheriff Mark Louis told a reporter from his office in Pontstown, Vermont. "We've got a flight of four eyebots on a solar dock on the roof. They take hardly any maintenance, they respond to any suspicious business downtown, and they don't hurt anyone. If it's just a minor scuffle they grab some photos and help keep things from escalating. If it's a bigger deal, or if it's someone they know is trouble, they call us in right away. They save us a lot of false alarms: if we get an eyebot call-in we know it's a big deal." (184 newspapers.json)
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EDITORIAL: EYEBOTS ARE GOOD FOR US. The controversy around increasing eyebot use by police forces has everyone worried, and I was on board for a long time. Facial recognition databases under government control are something we should be worried about! Then, my daughter was accosted on her way home from dance class. Long before any police officer could have arrived, an eyebot had snagged video of her attackers and reported them to Central. That, alone, probably saved her life: just knowing they'd been tagged sent the criminals packing before any real damage was done, and the information allowed us to press charges on a crime that would have gone unreported before. All safety must come at a cost, and I'll gladly pay my privacy if it's the cost to keep my family safe. (188 newspapers.json)
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EDITORIAL: EYEBOTS REPRESENT A CONCERNING TREND. There it is, as it always is: the endless buzz of eyebots cruising the streets, hunting for wrongdoing. I've written many an article on these things, and read many more. I've spoken to experts. When we get to the bottom of it, there's a key disturbing truth to these ubiquitous robots… No one knows how they work. The artificial intelligence used in the little drones is more than just facial recognition, it's also threat processing and decision making, and at its very heart is a new-wave deep learning AI that is, essentially, a wild card. Without knowing how these things learn and make decisions, I don't think we can trust them in public, let alone handling our safety. That's not even considering the dangers of letting them have access to our faces and criminal records. (189 newspapers.json)
Fliers
This is an advertisement promoting facial recognition quadcopters. It shows a formation of the so-called 'eyebots' flying outward from an American flag in an explosion of stars and stripes. Beneath, it reads "Don't worry, we'll watch your back." (265 fliers.json)