Technology may be a pivot for many of our lives, but it’s not exactly infallible. A Massachusetts man learnt that the hard way, after his drivers licence was flagged as a fake on the police system, due to a facial-recognition error.
It seems John H. Gass looks rather similar to another Massachusetts driver, causing the system to revoke his licence after figuring his must be the fake. Rather than head down to the DVLA to sort out the problem, he was instead banned from driving for two weeks, and only won it back after he managed to prove he was who he said he was. Worse yet, it’s estimated another 1000 drivers faced a similar problem last year.
The facial recognition software that the state of Massachusetts uses is identical to the one 34 other states use, paving the way for many more opportunities of mistaken identity for the future. [Boston via Popsci]
Image: Dinomite