23rd Parliamentary Intelligence-Security Forum – 5G, AI, and Quantum Computing

Mr. Curt Levey, President of the Committee for Justice, delivered a comprehensive address on the subject of artificial intelligence (AI), with a particular emphasis on facial recognition and its implications for national security. Drawing upon his extensive experience as both a former AI scientist and a legal professional, Mr. Levey elucidated the intricacies of facial recognition systems, encompassing the processes of feature extraction, verification (matching a face to an identity), and identification (matching a face against extensive databases).

He underscored the escalating adoption of facial recognition technology in various domains, including airports, border security, criminal investigations, and personal security applications such as phone unlocking.

Addressing the pertinent issue of AI bias, Mr. Levey asserted that AI systems commence as neutral entities, learning solely from the data they are trained on. This inherent neutrality renders AI potentially less biased than human decision-making processes. However, he acknowledged the inherent trade-offs between fairness and accuracy, particularly when incorporating factors such as gender or past criminal history. Furthermore, he observed that systems trained in distinct geographical regions may exhibit superior performance when applied to local populations.

In relation to regulation, Mr. Levey posited that existing anti-discrimination laws are adequately equipped to govern AI, and the implementation of specialized AI-specific legislation is currently unnecessary. Nevertheless, he recognized that the emergence of fully autonomous AI may necessitate the development of novel regulatory frameworks.