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Xu Li, co-founder and chief executive of artificial intelligence start-up SenseTime, is calling on governments to draw up regulation for facial recognition systems, instead of banning the use of such advance technology. Photo: Handout

Cities should regulate facial recognition instead of banning it, China’s AI champion SenseTime says

  • The CEO of the world’s most valuable AI start-up says guidelines would help manage how these systems are deployed

SenseTime, the world’s most valuable artificial intelligence (AI) start-up, has called on governments to establish new regulation for facial recognition systems, following the recent decision in San Francisco to ban local police and other agencies from using such technology because of the potential for abuse.

“Governments should craft regulations, instead of restricting use [of facial recognition systems],” said Xu Li, co-founder and chief executive of SenseTime, on the sidelines of a company event in Beijing on Wednesday. “There should be standard guidelines to determine under which conditions certain emerging technologies can be used.”

He described the introduction of new rules covering facial recognition as “crucial” towards the wider adoption of this form of AI technology around the world, while suggesting the ban in San Francisco ban would be the “exception” to that trend.

That ban, the first to be adopted by a city in the United States, was part of a broader legislation that creates a high hurdle for any agency in San Francisco to use advanced surveillance systems. This restriction excluded airports and other federally regulated facilities.

Similar bans are currently being considered in the cities of Oakland in California and Somerville in Massachusetts. Last month, the US Congress introduced a bill that would block users of facial recognition systems from gathering and sharing data that identifies or tracks consumers without their consent, according to a report by The New York Times.

Those initiatives represent the growing debate about the limits of surveillance as well as the trade-offs between security and privacy. In China, for example, facial recognition is now being used not just for access control at border checkpoints, but to take attendance in classrooms and spot jaywalkers. China has made strides in facial recognition technology because of its large population and centralised identity databases.

The technology, which uses biometric computer applications to automatically identify an individual from a database of digital images, is already being deployed at US airports.

Despite the pockets of resistance to the wider application of facial recognition systems in major markets like the US, SenseTime’s Xu remained upbeat about the adoption of various AI technologies around the world.

“Whether AI is a trend or a hype depends on the delivery of technology,” said Xu. “We’re working with our partners to increase the popularity of AI, so that more people can experience the changes it can bring to their lives.”

At its event in Beijing on Wednesday, SenseTime launched 11 new products for use in industries such as security, education, retail and health care.

Those included a medical imaging platform that enables three-dimensional rendering of bone tumours as well as a smart door pass that can identify more than 20,000 faces in real time. The smart door pass has a recognition failure rate of less than one in 10,000 even under dim lights, according to the company.

“Scalability is a key word for us this year,” said Xu, adding that the company plans to expand the use of some its lesser-known AI applications to 100 cities this year, up from 10 previously.

SenseTime has powered smart city solutions in about 100 mainland Chinese cities, according to the company.

Founded at the Hong Kong Science Park in 2014, SenseTime built its business on its expertise in deep learning technology. It is a subset of a broader family of so-called machine learning technologies, which are concerned with algorithms that teach computers to learn by example and perform tasks based on classifying various data, including images, sound and text.

The company has since grown to become the world’s most valuable AI start-up, with a valuation of US$4.5 billion after its last funding round in May last year.

Xu said SenseTime expected to record another year of triple-digit growth, adding that the company has been profitable since 2017. It counts more than 700 customers and strategic partners in China and overseas, including Qualcomm, Nvidia, Alibaba, Xiaomi Corp, Oppo, Vivo, Honda Motor Co, China Mobile and UnionPay.

The company has supplied automatic face-scanning technology to more than 40 railway stations and several airports across China, where these systems have recorded near-perfect accuracy rate. Last year, the company joined the likes of Megvii and Yitu Technology in promoting use of facial recognition and other AI technologies in Singapore and other Southeast Asian economies.

The latest expansion efforts of SenseTime have come at a time when many industries are investing aggressively in projects that use AI software. Worldwide spending on AI systems is forecast to reach US$79.2 billion in 2022, up from an estimated US$35.8 billion this year, according to a report in March by technology research firm IDC.

“Many believed that 2018 was the year when AI became more embedded in industries,” Xu said. “But there’s still a long way before the technology becomes truly ubiquitous.”

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