Could this feature be a powerful tool for reconnecting with others and gaining context about the people we meet, without causing offense? Or is it a dangerous technology that invades the person’s privacy?
Harvard University student’s ‘invasion of privacy’ project
Harvard engineering students Anphu Nguyen and Kane Ardaipio recently worked on an experimental project called ‘I-XRAY’. thesisContains a scene presenting and demonstrating youtube videowas revealed.
The I-XRAY system Ray-Ban Meta Smart GlassesIt begins with sending a video to Instagram using the live streaming function. This is a feature provided by default.
The computer used in the experiment remotely watches Instagram live streaming. When specially designed software detects a person’s face in the streaming video for a few seconds, that face is captured as a screenshot. The software uses these captured facial photos to PimEyesIt is automatically uploaded to a facial recognition service called. PimEyes is a service that recognizes faces and finds where the person’s face is posted on the Internet.
Afterwards, the software opens the URL provided by PimEyes and extracts text data from the site. This extracted data is processed by LLM, which extracts the person’s name, company name or other personal information (non-personal information is removed). The I-XRAY software then uses the extracted personal data on people search sites. All you have to do is enter basic data, such as your name, address, phone number, or email address, and these sites will display the rest of your information, including your age, family relationships, and career history.
The personal information collected in this way is sent in text form to the smartphone of the person wearing the glasses, allowing information about strangers to be obtained without the other person’s permission. The creators of the I-XRAY experiment introduced the project to warn of the privacy risks that AI glasses may pose in the future.
Critics are warning that AI glasses are “creepy, dystopian and dangerous” after seeing a demonstration video released by the I-XRAY project team. But the reactions of the project’s creators and critics can be overly simplistic and misleading.
I-XRAY has nothing to do with AI glasses
The statement in the title of the I-XRAY paper, “AI glasses can disclose anyone’s personal information,” is clearly incorrect.
Of course, you can get that feeling just by watching the video. In the experimental demonstration, one of the creators approaches a stranger and obtains the person’s name, occupation, and family information through smart glasses. But this “AI glass” doesn’t actually do anything other than take pictures with the built-in camera.
In fact, you can achieve the same results when streaming Instagram from your smartphone without modifying the I-XRAY backend system. In fact, the smartphone has a higher resolution, so the video will come out better. So why do smart glasses seem to pose a special risk?
At least the Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses light up when video is being recorded, so people around you can see it. On the other hand, if you use a telephoto lens or smartphone zoom function, you can take photos and videos from afar without the other person knowing.
What is clear is that the online services used in this experiment are a clear threat to privacy. Pim Eyes Facecheck ID The same service finds all the sites where a user’s face is posted and provides that information to anyone who can upload a photo.
Database site used by project creators FastPeopleSearchand Instant Checkmate It is also a clear and present risk factor. The user’s personal information is already stored in the database, and any Internet user can obtain more personal information by entering part of other people’s information.
For example, if you upload a photo of someone’s face to PimEyes, you can see all the URLs where that photo was uploaded. You can then see other data about that person on that page, especially their name. Even if you just know the name, you can easily obtain a huge amount of personal and financial information through other sites.
But the important thing is, cameras built into smart glasses don’t pose any particular privacy risks. The camera in smart glasses is just a camera. If you want to protect your privacy, you should visit each website mentioned above and use the tool to block personal information.
Not using AI glasses does not solve the privacy issue. To protect privacy, not only AI glasses but also all photo and video recording devices, including smartphones, DSLRs, Polaroids, webcams, and doorbell cameras, will need to be disposed of.
I challenge the way the I-XRAY project was introduced and received by the public. The risk lies not in AI glasses but in facial recognition sites and public personal information sites. AI glasses have nothing to do with invasion of privacy.
AI glasses should actually be equipped with a facial recognition function.
Why you need facial recognition
Business cards originated from social cards used by nobles in China in the 15th century. These cards spread to Europe in the 18th century, and by the time of the Industrial Revolution, business cards had become a standard tool for exchanging contact information.
Today we exchange this information electronically. For example, you can share business cards in the form of a ‘pass’ in Apple Wallet or Google Wallet, and save this information directly to the Contacts app through vCard. If you both use iPhones running iOS 17 or later, you can easily exchange business card information by simply holding the two phones close to each other.
The act of giving a business card gives the recipient permission to have the personal information written on the business card.
The method of granting facial recognition permissions on AI glasses would be very simple to implement. You can grant permission through the checkbox in the Contacts app. If you grant this permission, your profile photo will be automatically shared along with facial recognition permissions. Facial recognition permission must be granted to each person and can be revoked at any time.
In 10 years, when most people will be wearing AI glasses, we will automatically be able to know the names, occupations, and interaction history of people we have met in the past at meetings or business events. Data collected from family or friend relationships will be especially helpful to elderly people suffering from age-related dementia or people with poor memory.
It is a wrong approach to criticize the facial recognition function of AI glasses as dangerous to personal information protection. This is especially true if the AI glasses are merely used as cameras. We need to recognize that the facial recognition feature of AI glasses can greatly benefit our lives and careers.
editor@itworld.co.kr
Source: www.itworld.co.kr
