Keep your distance: Cameras may soon watch you on the job to keep coworkers apart
A new tool powered by artificial intelligence may soon be able to detect in real-time if you’re keeping a safe distance from your coworkers as the new coronavirus continues to spread, according to the company that developed the system.
The company, Landing AI, designed the tool for those who do not have the luxury of abiding by stay-at-home orders and must continue going to work despite risks of infection from the new coronavirus.
“As medical experts point out, until a vaccine becomes available, social distancing is our best tool to help mitigate the coronavirus pandemic and as we open up the economy,” the company said Thursday in a blog post. “Our goal with creating this tool and sharing it at such an early stage, is to help our customers and to encourage others to explore new ideas to keep us safe.”
The technology could be integrated into existing security cameras in workplaces like factories and other businesses deemed “essential” amid the pandemic, the company said.
While the AI watches people through cameras, it uses an algorithm to calculate how far away each person is from one another.
In the birds-eye diagram shown in the video, each green dot represents one individual who is in a safe range from others, the company said.
The dots become red when the person is less than six feet away — the national standard to prevent transmission of the coronavirus — from someone else, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
If you get too close, the system could sound an alarm to remind everyone to keep their distance, the company said. Another option is for the technology to generate a report overnight that managers can use to rearrange the workplace in a way that reduces workers’ chances of infection.
The company shared their “technical methodology” on the blog post to develop the software in an effort to collaborate with others and help stop the spread of Covid-19, the disease the virus causes.
But the idea of being watched at work is discomforting to some, and downright uncalled for to others.
“Cameras that collect and store video just in case it is needed are being transformed into robot guards that actively and constantly watch people,” Jay Stanley, a senior policy analyst with the American Civil Liberties Union, said in a 2015 press release. “The end result, if left unchecked, will be a society where everyone’s public movements and behavior are subject to constant and comprehensive evaluation and judgment by what are essentially AI security guards.”
The company said it recognizes the privacy concerns this technology poses, but added that “our current system does not recognize individuals, and we urge anyone using such a system to do so with transparency and only with informed consent.”
Amazon announced early this month that it is using AI software to monitor building cameras to make sure employees keep their distance, according to Reuters. Similar types of technology are being used by countries across the globe to monitor social media posts and other public data to track the disease’s spread, Wired reported.
“In the fight against the coronavirus, social distancing has proven to be a very effective measure to slow down the spread of the disease,” the company said.
