Are Face Recognition Systems Biased Relative to Race and Gender?

When: Wednesday, March 20, 2019
Where: PGH 232
Time: 11:00 AM

Speaker: Dr. Michael King, Florida Institute of Technology

Host: Dr. Ioannis Kakadiaris, University of Houston

As biometric identification systems continue to proliferate, concerns have been raised as to whether or not those employing face recognition technology are equally accurate on all demographic groups. These concerns are driven in part by potential ramifications of an error occurring, as face recognition technology is being deployed as a primary means of identifying people as they board aircraft, gain access to smart devices for financial transactions, and even for use-cases related to law enforcement.  Studies have shown the performance can vary relative to the race, gender, and age of the subject being identified. In this talk, we will show results of our analyses and discuss some of the more recent findings of key variations in performance of face recognition relative to race and gender.

Bio:

Dr. Michael King is an Associate Professor in the Department of Computer Engineering and Sciences Science; and Research Scientist for the at Harris Institute for Assured Information (HIAI) at Florida Institute of Technology and has served in this role since August 2015. Dr. King has research interests in the areas of biometrics, cyber identity, and machine learning.  He currently serves as principal investigator and project lead for a research portfolio of contracts and grants valued at $4.9M.

Prior to joining academia, Dr. King served fourteen years as a scientific research/program management professional in the United States Intelligence Community. While in government, Dr. King created, directed, and managed research portfolios covering a broad range of topics related to biometrics and identity to include: advanced exploitation algorithm development, advanced sensors and acquisition systems, and computational imaging. He crafted and led the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity’s (IARPA) Biometric Exploitation Science and Technology (BEST) Program to successfully transition technology deliverables to over 40 Government organizations.  As a subject matter expert in biometrics and identity intelligence, Dr. King has been invited to brief the Director of National Intelligence, Congressional staffers and science advisers, Defense Science Board, Army Science Board, and Intelligence Science Board. Also, he served as Intelligence Community Department Lead to the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy's (OSTP) National Science and Technology Council Subcommittee (NSTC) on Biometrics and Identity Management (2005-2012).

Additionally, Dr. King worked for the National Security Agency as Technical Director in the Research Directorate's Human Interface Security Research Focus Area. Dr. King’s final Government appointment was Director of Applied Research and Innovation in the Directorate of Science and Technology's Office of Technical Services at the Central Intelligence Agency.  In this role, he was responsible for leading a team of scientists in the delivery of advanced capabilities in cyber, identity intelligence, and special communication systems.  Dr. King received his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University in 2001.