SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
from the false-positives-are-a-bad-thing-said-one-of-the-twins dept.
If you've watched any sort of spy thriller or action film over the last few years – think Jason Bourne or Mission: Impossible – the chances are you've seen facial recognition software in action. These movie scenes often involve an artist's sketch compared to mug shots, or sometimes even a live CCTV stream, and with the clock ticking, a match is usually found for the culprit in the nick of time.
It seems natural then to assume that what happens in the film world is similar to what happens (most of the time) in the real world. We might think that our faces are constantly being tracked and recognised as we walk past security cameras in city centres – but this is not actually the case.
Not only would such a system require millions of cameras capable of producing high-quality footage, but it would also require the integration of photo-ID databases such as mugshots from every police force, previous passport images, and driving license images for everyone in the country.
And yet even if this high level of integration was possible, a far more basic problem still exists – facial recognition systems are still not 100% accurate.
(Score: 2) by HiThere on Friday December 16 2016, @07:06PM
You're comparing apples and oranges. When you think about things with reason you don't use the same mental circuits that you use when making snap decisions, or even slow decisions just based on "gut feelings". That second system doesn't use logic, but rather pattern matching, and it includes the data from films in it's base of "observed patterns of behavior". When using that second system it really *IS* natural to take the Hollywood version of reality as if it were reality.
Perhaps you can think of other contexts in which you observe this same split.
Javascript is what you use to allow unknown third parties to run software you have no idea about on your computer.
(Score: 2) by Immerman on Friday December 16 2016, @11:20PM
And always remember that the good guys are beautiful, the villains ugly, and that you should never, ever, trust anyone wearing a black hat.
Sadly, except for the hat, that actually seems to be rather deeply ingrained in the modern psyche.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 16 2016, @11:36PM
Modern psyche?
When was it ever not true? It is part of human nature, not some recent societal development.
(Score: 2) by Immerman on Saturday December 17 2016, @05:04AM
And your evidence is?
It has featured rather prominently in European folklore going back at least a few centuries, but I don't know of any scientifically valid studies testing general perceptions going back to even such recent times, do you?
I'm considerably less certain that it features anywhere near as prominently in other cultures.
The evidence tells us its a prevalent perception in modern times. Everything else is speculation and conjecture.