You've worked twelve hours and are feeling tired and frustrated, but you force yourself to keep a neutral expression on your face. You're too worn out

'Every smile you fake' — an AI emotion-recognition system can assess how 'happy' China's workers are in the office

submited by

Style Pass

2021-06-17 09:00:10

You've worked twelve hours and are feeling tired and frustrated, but you force yourself to keep a neutral expression on your face. You're too worn out to keep typing, but you can't yawn, grimace, or frown because an all-seeing eye is watching you. The eye charts your emotions, and — make no mistake — it will tell on you if you look a little too angry.

This is not the plot of a science fiction movie or the next "Black Mirror" episode. But it might already be the reality for some Chinese employees working for major tech corporations.

An AI emotion-recognition system developed by Chinese company Taigusys can detect and monitor the facial expressions of multiple people and create detailed reports on each individual to track how they're feeling. Researchers say, however, that systems like these are not only often inaccurate, but that at baseline, they're also deeply unethical.

The system was first reported on this May in an investigative piece by The Guardian. Taigusys lists multinational corporations like Huawei, China Mobile, China Unicom, and PetroChina among its major clients, though it is unclear whether these companies are licensing this particular product for use.