Microsoft today announced they will stop using the emotion recognition feature on the Azure Face system. This is part of the steps taken to follow the Responsible AI Standard document published by Microsoft. The use of this emotional recognition feature has received criticism for being said to be unethical.
Its use on the Azure platform by Microsoft has been discontinued. Customers who are still using the API of this feature are given until 2023 to stop using it. Open access is also no longer given except for certain uses such as for the disabled.
In addition to stopping the use of emotional recognition artificial intelligence, Microsoft’s Artificial Intelligence Standards will also ensure products will undergo a process of data surveillance, assisted by human supervision and provide legitimate solutions to problems it was originally designed for.
The use of face recognition systems and artificial intelligence without monitoring has become a big issue especially after it has already been used to oppress certain groups in China for example. Face recognition software was also found to be biased towards certain races because the data it trained was incomplete.