Nine schools in North Ayrshire are using facial recognition technology to reduce payment queues for students at school meal breaks, this solution should eliminate queues and minimise the contact for the transmission of COVID-19. Negative feedback was received from parents and campaigners as they were not aware of the project’s outcome. In return, the North Ayrshire Council said that 97% of children or their parents had agreed to the use of facial recognition. The company implementing the project spokesperson David Swanston, managing director of CRB Cunninghams, states that it is the fastest and easiest way to identify all students and thus reduce the waiting time to a minimum. The Department for Education states that it does not monitor facial recognition technology use in schools. Also, other critics stated that facial recognition is not monitored as strictly as other biometrics. At the Download Festival in 2015 at Donnington Park, the use of live facial recognition systems was applied to aid the Leicestershire police in trailing the queues to enter the venue. Campaigners are worried that this technology will instigate arrests without any reason. Although this system is used in public areas like E-gates at airports and public events like the Notting Hill Carnival, the Metropolitan Police found the technology to be highly inaccurate with an 81% error rate in an independent study. Big Brother Watch’s head, Silkie Carlo, criticized the use of such advanced technology for normal routine activities such as school lunch payments, stating that it is unnecessary to go to certain extremes since this is a school, not an airport.
Analysis of Article
In the world of today, people are relying on AI very easily even for the smallest of tasks. While this technology was introduced and implemented during COVID-19, and human contact had to be minimal, I feel we are starting to lose our identity with all these drastic measures. When kids line up for the meal, they have time to socialise among themselves and even with the person who is at the other end serving their meal. This kind of connection is important as this is an opportunity for kids to build social and relationship skills which could fade if we depend too much on technology.
On a positive note, this implementation of the project offers a practical solution for students not to wait in queue as valuable time is currently being lost. Overall, it shall prove to be a good initiative. This shall also ensure that the meal service runs smoothly and efficiently thus lowering also the risks associated with COVID-19.