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Monday, February 17, 2025
HomeWorldAsiaAI emotion-detection software tested on Uyghurs

AI emotion-detection software tested on Uyghurs

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Daily US Times: A camera system that uses facial recognition and artificial intelligence intended to reveal states of emotion has been tested on Uyghurs in Xinjiang, BBC has reported.

A software engineer claimed to have installed such systems in police stations in Xinjiang.

A human rights advocate who saw the evidence described it as shocking.

The Chinese embassy in London has not responded directly to the claims but says social and political rights in all ethnic groups are guaranteed.

Xinjiang is home to 12 million Uyghurs, most of whom are Muslim.

Citizens in Xinjiang are under daily surveillance. The province is also home to highly controversial “re-education centres”, called high security detention camps by leading human rights groups in the world, where it is estimated that more than a million people have been held.

China has always defended the surveillance saying it is necessary in the region because it says separatists who want to set up their own state have killed hundreds of people in terror attacks.

The software engineer agreed to talk to the BBC under condition of anonymity, because he fears for his safety. The name of the company he worked for is also not being revealed.

But during his interview, he showed five photographs of Uyghur detainees who he claimed had had the emotion recognition system tested on them.

He said: “The Chinese government use Uyghurs as test subjects for various experiments just like rats are used in laboratories.”

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