Human Rights Groups Ask Zoom to Scrap Emotion AI

Zoom has been flirting with the concept of emotion AI ever since the pandemic gave it a second wind. As we touched on last month, tech giant Intel has been working alongside an e-learning software company to produce an emotion-analyzing program that stacks with Zoom. This program would supposedly benefit teachers by telling them when students appear confused or bored, allowing them to tailor their instruction and increase engagement. Protocol similarly reported in April that companies have begun using emotion AI during sales calls to assess potential customers’ moods and adjust their strategy accordingly. Unbeknownst to them, every customer is graded on an “emotion scorecard” throughout their call.

Digital rights non-profit Fight for the Future quickly caught wind of Protocol’s report. So did the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Access Now, Jobs With Justice, and 24 other human rights groups—all of whom signed an open letter to Zoom published Wednesday. The letter asks Zoom founder and CEO Eric Yuan to scrap the company’s plans to introduce emotion AI, saying the technology is punitive, manipulative, discriminatory, rooted in pseudoscience, and a data integrity risk.

“Zoom claims to care about the happiness and security of its users but this invasive technology says otherwise,” the letter reads. “This move to mine users for emotional data points based on the false idea that AI can track and analyze human emotions is a violation of privacy and human rights. Zoom needs to halt plans to advance this feature.”

The open letter is far from the first to criticize emotion AI. Many have said the technology constitutes excessive surveillance, especially when the targeted students or customers don’t know their body language, tone, and other alleged emotional markers are being assessed. Others have said emotion AI could end up dishing out negative (or simply incorrect) analyses of people whose cultures express emotions differently.

The advocacy groups’ letter closes by reminding Yuan that his company has previously “made decisions that center users’ rights,” such as backtracking its decision to implement face-tracking features due to privacy concerns. “This is another opportunity to show you care about your users and your reputation,” the organizations write. “You can make it clear that this technology has no place in video communications.”

Continue reading

Massachusetts Passes Robust Automotive Right-to-Repair Law

Right to repair advocates scored a major victory this week with the passage of Question 1 in Massachusetts. Hailed as the most advanced right to repair law in the land, Question 1 requires that automakers create an open data platform for sharing diagnostic and repair information with independent shops and vehicle owners.

Astronomers Detect Another Possible Exoplanet Right Next Door

A project called Near Earths in the Alpha Center Region (NEAR) has just spotted tantalizing signals that could point to a planet in the habitable zone of Alpha Centauri, which is a mere 4.37 light years away. That's right next door in astronomical terms.

How to Boost Your Wi-Fi Speed by Choosing the Right Channel

Some channels in Wi-Fi routers are indeed much faster — but that doesn't mean you should go ahead and change them. Read on to find out more about interference and the massive difference between 2.4GHz and 5GHz Wi-Fi.

John Deere Fails to Uphold Right to Repair Agreement Signed in 2018

Back in 2018, John Deere struck a voluntary agreement in which it would provide manuals, training, and diagnostic software for tractors available to purchase by January 1, 2021. The company does not appear to have done so, or to have plans to do so in the near future.