Technology
France uses AI to verify if people wear public transport masks
To check if passengers are wearing face masks, France incorporates new AI technologies into security cameras of the Paris métro network.
This week, the app, which was used in other parts of the world, has begun a three-month trial at the Chatelet-Les Halles central station in Paris, reports Bloomberg. In its developing project, the French startup DatakaLab states the goal of recognizing or penalizing individuals who do not wear masks but produce anonymous statistical information that would allow authorities to predict potential COVID-19 outbreaks.
DatakaLab CEO Xavier Fischer said to the Edge, "We 're calculating this one goal. "The aim is simply to publish statistics about how many people every day wear masks."
The pilot is one of a number of measures introduced by cities around the world to facilitate lock-up and return people to work. While France, like the United States, initially discouraged citizens from wearing masks, it has now made public transport compulsory. It also plans to enforce a €135 ($145) fine on those not found to wear a subway, train , bus or taxi mask.
The production and potential implementation of AI software will be monitored closely. Many proponents of privacy in the West were worried about the expansion of AI controlled surveillance and facial recognition software in China, but the pandemic is an urgent threat that policymakers believe can take precedence over the risks of individual privacy.
However, DatakaLab insists that its software complies with the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which is privacy-conscious. For several years , the company marketed AI-powered video analytics to use technology to produce data for companies and centers on their clients' demographics.
"We never sell for safety," Fischer says. "You can not use the data for tracking in all our contracts of sale."
The software is light enough to work anywhere, so no data are ever sent to the cloud or the offices of DatakaLab. The software instead produces statistics on the number of people wearing masks in 15 minutes.
In the French town of Cannes in the south of the country, the firm has already integrated the software in buses.
It added small CPUs to existing bus installed CCTV cameras that process the video in real time. When the bus returns at night to the depot, it offers Wi-Fi connectivity and sends the data to the local transportation authorities. "Then, for instance, the mayor will understand where they will need to provide more resources, if 74 per cent of the people wear a mask there," Fischer said.
While technology such as DatakaLab is only currently tested, in the near future it will probably become a cornerstone of urban life. As countries begin to measure the economic damage caused by a lockdown of more COVID-19 infections against loss of life, more pressure is put on mitigating measures such as mandatory masks. Software such as DatakaLab's will help governments understand how their message convinces the public in countries in the West, which are more unknown for mask wearing.
Fischer says that while the pandemic certainly produced new AI technologies, it does not mean that countries like France need to give up their privacy rights and use intrusive surveillance tools. Fischer says, "We comply with the rules of Europe. "This is a very useful, but extremely dangerous technology ... [But] our values are part and parcel of our business.
