Project Nightingale: Google denies using private health data for its AI research

project nightingale google ascension health healthcare ai artificial intelligence

Google has denied using private health data for its own AI research following The Wall Street Journal’s exposé of Project Nightingale.

Project Nightingale is Google’s codename for its partnership with Ascension, the US’ second-largest health system. The project enables Google to access the health information of around 50 million American patients.

Ascension reportedly did not tell doctors and patients that it was sharing data – including the names, histories,...

13 November 2019 | Ethics

UK police are concerned AI will lead to bias and over-reliance on automation

British police have expressed concern that using AI in their operations may lead to increased bias and an over-reliance on automation.

A study commissioned by UK government advisory body the Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation warned that police felt AI may "amplify" prejudices.

50 experts were interviewed by the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) for the research, including senior police officers.

Racial profiling continues to be a huge problem. More...

17 September 2019 | Face Recognition

EU AI Expert Group: Ethical risks are ‘unimaginable’

The EU Commission’s AI expert group has published its assessment of the rapidly-advancing technology and warned it has “unimaginable” ethical risks.

Some of the highlighted risks includes lethal autonomous systems, tracking individuals, and ‘scoring’ people in society.

On the subject of lethal autonomous systems, the experts warn machines with cognitive skills could “decide whom, when and where to fight without human intervention”.

When it comes...

11 April 2019 | Ethics

AI tags potential criminals before they’ve done anything

British police want to use AI for highlighting who is at risk of becoming a criminal before they’ve actually committed any crime. Although it sounds like a dystopian nightmare, there are clear benefits. Resources and outreach programs can be allocated to attempt preventing a crime, stop anyone becoming a victim, and remove the costs associated with prosecuting and jailing someone. With prisons overburdened and space limited, reducing the need to lock someone up is a win for everyone....

28 November 2018 | Law Enforcement

Amazon expert suggests AI regulation after ACLU’s bias findings

An expert from Amazon has suggested the government should implement a minimum confidence level for the use of facial recognition in law enforcement. Dr. Matt Wood, GM of Deep Learning and AI at Amazon Web Services, made the suggestion in a blog post responding to the ACLU’s (American Civil Liberties Union) findings of a racial bias in the ‘Rekognition’ facial recognition algorithm by Amazon. In their findings, the ACLU found Rekognition erroneously labelled those with darker skin...

30 July 2018 | Amazon

Russian startup is building a controversial ‘ethnicity-detecting’ AI

A startup from Russia is building an AI which uses facial recognition to determine ethnicity, prompting fears it could be used for automated racial profiling. NtechLab lists ‘ethnicity detection’ as an upcoming feature of its solution. The algorithm promises the ability to examine people and determine their ethnicity. An image, which has since been pulled as the result of backlash, showed classifications of people including ‘European’, ‘African’, and ‘Arabic’. The company is...

25 May 2018 | Privacy

Information Commissioner targets intrusive facial recognition

Facial recognition offers huge opportunities, but the Information Commissioner is more concerned about how it could impact privacy. In a post on the ICO blog, Information Commissioner Elizabeth Denham highlights the advantages and disadvantages of facial recognition. “I have identified FRT by law enforcement as a priority area for my office and I recently wrote to the Home Office and the NPCC setting out my concerns,” Denham wrote. “Should my concerns not be addressed, I will...

15 May 2018 | Government

Macron wants Europeans to relax about data or be left behind in AI

Emmanuel Macron, President of France, is calling for Europeans to relax about the use of their data by AI companies to prevent those operating in the region falling behind their international counterparts. Citizens are increasingly concerned about their use of data, especially following the ongoing investigations into Facebook and Cambridge Analytica. AI companies, however, rely on the bulk collection of data for training machine learning models. Macron wants to ensure France is a leader...

21 March 2018 | Government

AI identifies protesters – even when they’re disguised

A new AI developed by researchers from the UK and India can identify protesters at rallies, even when they’re in disguise. For those of us concerned by intrusive surveillance it rings some alarm bells. Earlier this year, the Department of Justice in the U.S. ordered the domain host for a site which organised an anti-Trump demonstration to hand over details of those who even visited the page. This incident alone goes to show how valuable profiling technology such as this would be...

7 September 2017 | Deep Learning