The technologies developed by the American giant are very advanced. So much so that they are even used to recognize individuals during armed conflict.
If you use the Google Photos search function, you may have already been impressed by its ability to recognize objects, scenes, landscapes, but especially individuals.
The application often gets it right, so much so that we sometimes wonder what black magic is responsible for this, as the algorithms and AI used by Google are so robust. Enough, in any case, to encourage the intelligence services of a state in the middle of a conflict to use it.
Smile, you are identified
In the movies, we can see the military, law enforcement and other spies using ultra-sophisticated machines and software that can identify individuals in a photo or video. Fiction is not that far from reality, and authorities around the world, even in France, have such tools in their arsenal. An Israeli company based in Tel Aviv, Corsight, designed such a program which is currently used by the Israeli army to “ flush out anyone with links to Hamas or other militant groups », reports the New York Times.
Corsight’s technology promises to accurately recognize individuals whose faces are not fully exposed, even in drone shots, in relative darkness, or in poor quality shots. However, the tool is not perfect and, according to Israeli intelligence agents, it can have great difficulty recognizing disfigured or grainy faces. Which, we will agree, is common during an armed conflict.
And, of course, this process can generate false positives, a major flaw in facial recognition technologies that has already been pointed out.
Google Photos agent, at your service
To supplement Corsight’s results, the Israeli army used Google Photos, according to the three officers who spoke to the New York Times. Intelligence services uploaded databases of people already known to the app and used its search function to identify new individuals. Google’s technology would be superior to that used by the army, while being free.
Contacted by Engadgetthe American company specifies that Google Photos “ helps you organize photos by grouping similar faces, so you can tag people to easily find old photos. It does not provide the identity of the unknown people appearing in the photos. “There does not appear to be any collaboration between the company and the Israeli armed forces, which at the same time continue to use Corsight’s technology, as it would be more ” customizable », according to the sources of the NYT.
Source : Engadget
4