Facial recognition is skewed to fail on black faces.
All companies perform better on lighter subjects as a whole than on darker subjects as a whole with an 11.8% - 19.2% difference in error rates.
IBM had the largest gap in accuracy, with a difference of 34.4% in error rate between lighter males and darker females.IBM Watson leaders responded within a day after receiving the performance results and are reportedly making changes to the Watson Visual Recognition API. Official Statement.
In conclusion, we want to sincerely thank the authors of this paper for their dedication to ensuring a more diverse and inclusive world.
http://gendershades.org/docs/ibm.pdf
IBM will no longer offer general purpose facial recognition or analysis software, IBM CEO Arvind Krishna said in a letter to Congress today. The company will also no longer develop or research the technology, IBM tells The Verge . Krishna addressed the letter to Sens. Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Kamala Harris (D-CA) and Reps. Karen Bass (D-CA), Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), and Jerrold Nadler (D-NY).