Facial recognition enters the war in Ukraine

Ukraine uses facial recognition technology to identify Russian soldiers killed during the invasion of its territory, in a complex and innovative application of a program considered problematic, according to experts.

Kiev uses the data obtained in the process to locate and notify the relatives of the dead, in an act that, according to Ukraine, aims to pass through the Russian filter of information.

While this kind of artificial intelligence can offer the conclusion negated by war or Kremlin secrecy, the potential for error is considerable and has consequences.

“If you’re a Russian relative informed that your child has died when that’s not true, that leads to a complex ethical dilemma,” says Jim Hendler, director of the Institute for Data Exploration and Applications at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New State. York.

US company Clearview AI, regularly criticized by privacy advocates, says it offers Ukrainian authorities free access to its service that combines images from the internet with photos uploaded by users trying to identify someone.

“Ukrainian officials who have been granted access to Clearview AI have expressed their excitement and we look forward to hearing more,” said Hoan Ton-That, the company’s CEO and founder, in a statement.

Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Mykhailo Fedorov wrote on Friday that the country is using “artificial intelligence” to search social media for profiles of Russian soldiers through images of their bodies and then report their deaths to their families.

He added that one of the purposes is “to dispel the myth of a ‘special operation'”, referring to Moscow’s insistent definition of war.

Ukrainian authorities did not respond to AFP requests for information about Fedorov’s statement.

Known Issues

The latest balance released by the Kremlin put only 500 soldiers dead, but the figure has not been updated for weeks and NATO estimates that the conflict may have left as many as 40,000 Russian soldiers dead, wounded, missing or out of action.

News about the deaths of soldiers and their funerals was published in the Russian press, indicating that the officers told the families little more than the place where the soldiers died.

Facial recognition erupts into the war as a technology that tackles significant issues, from the invasion of people’s privacy to criticism of the misidentification of people of color.

Experts point out that facial recognition can be particularly problematic when used on the dead, especially as people look very different after suffering war wounds compared to their well-lit, smiling wedding photos, for example.

“One of the most well-known problems with facial recognition technology is that it is not perfect and will make mistakes that, in some cases, can change lives,” says Eric Goldman, co-director of the High Tech Law Institute at the University’s School of Law. from Santa Clara.

However, he adds that, long after the wars, there are families who do not know what happened to their loved ones who went to fight and never came back, noting the potential usefulness of technology in these cases.

“We can imagine circumstances where the ability to reduce the number of missing persons in action would be really helpful,” he says, noting that facial recognition is not necessarily the solution.

In a letter offering its services to Ukrainian authorities, Clearview, created with images of public web pages and promoting itself as a law enforcement tool, argued that it could be really useful.

The company, which was fined $22 million for using its program in Italy this month, said its database includes about 2 billion images from VK, the Russian equivalent of Facebook, and could help identify the dead. without the need for information such as fingerprints.

As for the ability to accurately identify the dead, Clearview claimed to work “effectively regardless of facial damage that may have occurred,” but AFP was unable to independently verify that claim.