China has become one of the global leaders in facial recognition software, and has been using the technology for a variety of purposes, such as to help gaokao examiners curb cheating and to speed up Hong Kong border crossings. That is not to say that the country’s use of the technology does not have some flaws.
On Wednesday, November 21 in Ningbo, Zhejiang, one facial recognition camera, which was put into place to identify jaywalkers at a pedestrian stop, caught chairwoman and president of electronics company Gree Electric Appliances, Dong Mingzhu, who was apparently crossing the road during a red light.
An image of Dong's face was then emblazoned on a nearby LED screen employed to shame jaywalkers in front of their fellow pedestrians.
Screengrab via 北京时间/Miaopai
An unexpected blunder from the woman the New York TImes once called one of the toughest businesswomen in China? Not quite. It turned out that the camera captured an image of Dong’s face from an advertisement on the side of a passing bus.
According to South China Morning Post, the Ningbo traffic police quickly realized their mistake and said in a Weibo post that the image had been immediately removed from the screen and that they would be upgrading their system to avoid future errors.
How did the Iron Lady of Chinese electronics respond? She commended the authorities for their hard work, writing, "a mistaken photo is trivial, but do mind your manners whenever you travel, safety is most important."
Screengrab via @董明珠自媒体/Weibo
Major cities in China began rolling out facial recognition systems specifically geared towards catching jaywalkers in 2017, with Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen amongst those to begin employing the technology at busy intersections.
READ MORE: Facial Recognition Now Used to Bust Cyclists, Drivers in Shenzhen
[Cover image via 北京时间/Miaopai]
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