Facial recognition technology, which was once firmly in the realm of science fiction, has gone mainstream. You have probably scanned your face to log in to a phone, verify a transaction, or renew a passport.
It isn’t just government agencies and huge corporations that are utilizing facial recognition, either. With costs coming down, there are lots of ways small businesses can get involved. You might be wondering whether it could have uses in your own company or department. Or, you might simply be curious about the broader applications.
In other words, you might be wondering whether facial recognition represents the next big tech breakthrough. To get to the answer, we need to look at both sides of the coin.
The Technology Behind Facial Recognition Is Exciting…
At the most basic level, the development of usable facial recognition tools is all about the triumph of math, processing power, and programming. That’s because using it requires thousands of different data points to be first collected and then processed at lightning speed.
The result is a kind of encryption pattern that’s similar to blockchain and its complexity. When you can verify the identity of the user or visitor in real-time, then you can gain higher degrees of trust and safety. Imagine what that could mean for purchasing, banking, contracts, hiring, and a dozen other parts of your company.
In the future facial recognition could even be used for marketing, or to discern things like a buyer’s mood as they react to different messages. That could be a game-changer for sales teams everywhere.
…. But There Are Some Big Roadblocks and Limitations
As exciting as the technology behind facial recognition might be, it’s important to note that there are some current shortcomings. For one thing, it’s not quite as accurate as developers would have you believe. It can have trouble distinguishing between certain similarities and faces, particularly with certain ethnic groups. And, there are concerns that certain types of facial recognition platforms can be beaten with the use of photographs and deep fakes.
These are serious issues, but they don’t even touch the biggest obstacle: user reluctance. Many of your customers, clients, and employees will be reluctant to have their faces scanned and stored in a database. As this technology becomes more prevalent, you can expect there to be an even bigger pushback in some circles. It’s one thing to use your face to unlock your phone; it’s another to have it scanned as part of a loan application or employment contract.
That leads us to a split decision: the technology behind facial recognition is exciting and growing, but the current applications might be more limited than they seem. It’s something we think business owners and executives should be watching, but only using in certain specific situations.
Need a Managed Services Provider Who Can Help You See Over the Horizon?
Facial recognition software is just one of the emerging tools business owners and executives need to keep an eye on in 2022 and beyond. If you feel like you spend too much time wondering what’s ahead – and not enough time taking advantage of new ideas and technologies – then it’s time to start getting better advice.
Contact our team today to schedule a free consultation and see how we can help!