US banks use AI to watch workers, public
Several American banks have started using surveillance software and computer vision to watch people using their services. Computer vision is a part of artificial intelligence that uses computers to understand the world we see.
A Reuters news agency investigation found that the software is used to learn about customers, watch employees and spot people sleeping near Automatic Teller Machines (ATMs).
Banks like the City National Bank of Florida and JPMorgan Chase & Co have tested facial recognition and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies. The growth of
AI tools within the banking industry could signal the spread of the technology into other industries.
Bobby Dominguez is the chief information security officer at City National Bank. He said smartphones that open through facial recognition have shown the potential of the technology.
"We're already leveraging facial recognition on mobile," he said. "Why not leverage it in the real world?"
Dominguez said City National will begin testing facial recognition next year to identify customers and employees. He added the software could find people on government watch lists.
Facial recognition technology, however, has raised civil rights concerns among many people. Critics of the tool point to arrests of innocent people wrongly identified by the technology. The software is said to be used disproportionately in poorer and minority communities. Critics also say the technology results in a loss of privacy.
This year, Portland, Oregon, banned businesses from using facial recognition in public places. The drugstore company Rite Aid also closed a facial recognition program last year.
Fredrik Nilsson is the vice president at Axis Communications, which makes surveillance cameras. He said a big question for banks with this technology is how the public will react to it.