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Lol Skynet Might Be Blind: Essex Police Stops Biased Facial Recognition

This image features a photo of an Essex Police surveillance van clearly marked with text announcing it operates live facial recognition and CCTV surveillance. Overlaid on the photo is a GB News headline reporting that Essex Police discontinued use of this facial recognition technology after the system incorrectly flagged far more Black people than people of other ethnicities, demonstrating clear systemic algorithmic bias. The original 9Gag post jokes that this flawed real-world AI means the fictional apocalyptic AI Skynet (from the Terminator franchise) would be blind, playing on the popular pop culture trope of Skynet destroying humanity, while this real AI cannot even correctly identify faces.
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Police force stops using facial recognition tech after it spots more black people than other ethnicities

Overview

This image features a photo of an Essex Police surveillance van clearly marked with text announcing it operates live facial recognition and CCTV surveillance. Overlaid on the photo is a GB News headline reporting that Essex Police discontinued use of this facial recognition technology after the system incorrectly flagged far more Black people than people of other ethnicities, demonstrating clear systemic algorithmic bias. The original 9Gag post jokes that this flawed real-world AI means the fictional apocalyptic AI Skynet (from the Terminator franchise) would be blind, playing on the popular pop culture trope of Skynet destroying humanity, while this real AI cannot even correctly identify faces.

Origin notes

This meme was originally posted to the 9Gag platform with the original title 'Lol skynet might be blind'. The core content is a reposted screenshot of a GB News story about Essex Police halting their public live facial recognition program due to confirmed algorithmic bias against Black people. The base photo of the police surveillance van was taken on a public street in Essex, UK.

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