Ukraine is using US company Clearview AI’s facial recognition technology to identify dead Russian soldiers and send the pictures to their families in a bid to steer anti-war sentiment, according to The Washington Post.
According to the country’s IT army, the technology was used to notify families of 582 Russian soldiers killed in fighting in Ukraine, the Post reported.
Overall, the technology has been deployed 8,679 times in Ukraine, according to a statement by Clearview AI chief executive Hoan Ton-That to The Hill.
Reuters first reported last month on the use of the technology in Ukraine, with Ton-That telling the outlet that the same technology would not be offered to Russian forces.
The letter the company sent to Ukraine last month said the technology could be used to identify intruders, identify the deceased, reunite families and combat misinformation.
Ukraine has said the technology will effectively inform Russian civilians what is really happening in the invasion and will spur resistance in Moscow, but others have called the strategy cruel and said it may make the Russians even more angry with Ukraine could do.
Ton-That told the Post that five Ukrainian agencies will be able to use the technology for free during the war.
Among the agencies, 343 official accounts are active with the company and have access to facial recognition capabilities, according to Ton-That.
Officials learned how to use the technology in weekly meetings with Clearview AI staff, according to the Post.
“They are so excited,” Ton-That told the newspaper. “Your energy is really high. They say they will win every call.”
The Post noted that Clearview AI drew controversy over its data collection methods and fears that facial recognition could misidentify people, leading to families being incorrectly told their loved ones had died.
Ton-That said in a statement to The Hill that the technology can correctly identify a face from 12 million images with an accuracy of 99.85 per cent, which “will prevent false identifications on site”.
“War zones can be dangerous when there is no way to distinguish enemy combatants from civilians. Facial recognition technology can help reduce uncertainty and increase safety in these situations,” he said. “We ensure that every person who has access to the tool is trained to use it safely and responsibly.”
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US officials estimate that thousands of Russian soldiers have died in the nearly two months since the Russian invasion.
Ukraine has worked to keep its international support high and arouse resistance in Russia, where much information about the ongoing conflict is being withheld.
Moscow deliberately hides casualty figures and photos from the conflict. The government continues to tell its citizens that the war is a “special military operation” aimed at “denazifying” Ukraine.