Big Brother or big help? Japan trials AI facial recognition cameras to find missing people

Tokyo's Arakawa ward has deployed 33 AI-powered facial recognition cameras to help locate missing children and elderly people with dementia, marking the first outdoor use of such technology by a local Japanese government. The system, installed in April near JR Nippori Station, allows family members to submit a photo for AI-assisted scanning of recorded footage, aiming to speed up searches while raising privacy concerns.

Advertisement Big Brother or big help? Japan trials AI facial recognition cameras to find missing people Police stations in Tokyo’s Arakawa ward receive about 100 reports each year of missing children and elderly people with dementia 2-MIN READ2-MIN Listen A Tokyo https://www.scmp.com/topics/tokyo?module=inline&pgtype=article ward has installed outdoor AI cameras with facial recognition capabilities to help locate missing children and elderly people, a move aimed at improving public safety but also raising privacy concerns in Japan https://www.scmp.com/topics/japan?module=inline&pgtype=article .Arakawa ward installed 33 artificial intelligence https://www.scmp.com/topics/artificial-intelligence?module=inline&pgtype=article -equipped security cameras on pylons along the main street and elsewhere near the JR Nippori Station in April to test whether the technology could speed up searches for missing persons.The busy area around the station is frequented by commuters, students and foreign residents. If a child or elderly person with dementia goes missing, family members can ask the ward to conduct an AI-assisted search by providing a photograph. The AI then scans recorded footage for people closely matching the image. The ward believes that this is the first outdoor deployment of AI facial recognition https://www.scmp.com/topics/facial-recognition?module=inline&pgtype=article security cameras by a local Japanese government, and hopes that it will help to find missing people more quickly.Advertisement Select Voice Select Speed 1.00x