Zoom urged to rule out ‘creepy’ AI emotion tech

LOS ANGELES: Human rights groups have urged video-conferencing company Zoom to scrap research on integrating emotion recognition tools into its products, saying the technology can infringe users’ privacy and perpetuate discrimination.

Technology publication Protocol reported last month that Californiabased Zoom was looking into building such tools, which could use artificial intelligence (AI) to scan facial movements and speech to draw conclusions about people’s mood.

In a joint letter sent to Zoom chief executive Eric Yuan yesterday, more than 25 rights groups including Access Now, the American Civil Liberties Union and the Muslim Justice League said the technology was inaccurate and could threaten basic rights.

“If Zoom advances with these plans, this feature will discriminate against people of certain ethnicities and people with disabilities, hardcoding stereotypes into millions of devices,” said Caitlin Seeley George, director of campaign and operations at Fight for the Future, a digital rights group. Beyond mining users for profit and allowing businesses to capitalise on them, this technology could take on far more sinister and punitive uses,” George said.

Zoom did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Zoom Video Communications Inc emerged as a major video conferencing platform around the world during Covid-19 lockdowns.