by Race, from a scientific perspective, has a long and troubled history. For centuries, the concept of race did not exist. In fact, race is a social construct, a set of unnatural identifiers to describe people. However, because of how prevalent race was during the colonial period, it came to be seen as a legitimate scientific description of humans. Many shady forms of science were employed to separate humans into specific categories. These “scientific” differences were touted by the powerful elite so that they could exploit certain groups of people for cheap labor and slavery. It took many years for proper science to push through the racial barrier. We know that there is no such thing as race, like any species humans have developed different adaptations to survive and thrive in their respective climates. That’s why native people from the Himalayas look so different from native people from the African plains. Their climates are drastically different and require different adaptations for survival. Lots of times these differences were used to push incorrect and dangerous ideas about intellectual ability and so forth, having nothing to do with science, and everything to do with appearance. We have certainly come a long way from the days of slavery, but if 2020 has shown us anything, we are nowhere near eradicating racism and bigotry from our society. These constructs are deeply embedded in the subconscious of society. As we witnessed this year, minorities in America, and especially black people, are subjected to racism and violence from police. Systemic racism unfortunately is a root cause for much of this violence. As AI continues to develop, and facial recognition begins to aid law enforcement and military personnel, we must be wary of how powerful a tool we wield, and how easily it could be exploited for racist purposes.
The ultimate fear is that governments will use this technology to target specific groups of people it deems dangerous, and this could, unfortunately, be used to perpetuate racism. If the wrong people are in charge of this technology, they could use it to target Black Americans for example. They can use it to invade their privacy, monitor everything they do online or in public, and harass them and even bring harm to them. Unfortunately, we have already seen examples of this happening.
It is no secret that the Chinese government has been holding Uighur Muslims hostage. According to PBS, “At least 1 million Uighurs have been interned since 2017, in more than 85 identified camps within Xinjiang.” This is a terrifying development. These camps are eerily similar to the Japanese internment camps in the US, and most obviously Nazi Concentration camps. The most shocking aspect of this is that it started only 3 years ago, more than 70 years after WWII ended. It is appalling to see this happening in today’s age, in one of the richest, most well educated, and powerful countries on the planet.
What is even more disturbing are the allegations against The Chinese tech giant Huawei. The Washington Post uncovered some very dark details, “Huawei has worked with dozens of security contractors to develop surveillance products, some of which were touted as able to identify a person’s ethnicity or to help suppress potential protests, according to company marketing documents that shed light on a little-publicized corner of one of China’s most valuable tech empires.” This, quite frankly, sounds like something out of a black mirror episode. This is a very dangerous game Huawei and the Chinese government are playing. This is a blatantly racist and morally wrong practice, and if it is not stopped soon, other even more devious groups could get their hands on the technology, or figure out how to replicate it.
Not only can the technology be used to identify race but, “One of the products jointly offered by Huawei and Chinese surveillance equipment supplier Vikor can send an alert if a crowd starts to form, according to a marketing presentation. The alert can be set for clusters of three, six, ten, 20 or 50 people.” This makes it impossible for large protest groups to form, and by tracking groups and ethnicity, governments can completely stifle social justice movements.
Maybe history really is doomed to repeat itself. Every time it seems as if the world is moving in a positive direction, were sent, in this case, 70 years back. AI technology, if not properly monitored, has the potential to completely erode human rights and freedoms. In fact, in the case of the Uigurs, it’s already happening. It is ultimately up to major tech firms to find some morals and ethical responsibility, to ensure the world isn’t plunged into a dystopian nightmare.
Works Cited:
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/features/uighurs/
https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2020/12/12/huawei-uighurs-identify/
https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2020/12/08/huawei-tested-ai-software-that-could-recognize-uighur-minorities-alert-police-report-says/