The United States Air Force has contracted RealNetworks to equip small autonomous UAVs with the SAFR facial recognition system. This is reported by Motherboard.
Under the contract, the technology will be adapted for small drones used for special operations, reconnaissance, target discovery and surveillance.
“This will require integrating SAFR software with the hardware and software stack [drones], including their onboard computing systems, communications suites and remote-control software”, the document states.
According to the contract, the drones will be able to operate with weak or no connectivity. This will allow operators to assess the situation and open the possibility for autonomous systems to carry out the task themselves, the document states.
Typically, small drones are unarmed. Small UAVs such as the RQ-11B Raven are often launched manually by soldiers in the field and are used for reconnaissance.
The contract describes a scenario in which special-operations teams use facial-recognition technology to seize a target. It is likely that these devices would not be able to strike opponents on their own.
Civil liberties advocates have warned about the dangers of deploying facial-recognition technologies on drones. They say that the cameras and UAV sensors used for facial recognition do not possess sufficiently high resolution to accurately identify people from high altitudes.
Earlier in November 2021, in Israel, a kamikaze drone with artificial intelligence was introduced.
In October, the gaming giant Caesars Entertainment proposed deploying drones and AI cameras at Times Square.