Following rumors that it is creating an AI system to identify emotions, Zoom has generated controversy.
According to Protocol’s initial report, the system analyzes users’ facial expressions and voice patterns to ascertain their emotional state.
Zoom gave additional system details in a blog post from last month. According to the company, “Zoom IQ” will be especially helpful in assisting salespeople in tailoring their pitches to the emotions of callers.
Of course, the system has drawn a good deal of criticism and is perceived as somewhat dystopian.
More than twenty-five rights organizations jointly wrote Zoom CEO Eric Yuan on Wednesday. Zoom is urged in the letter to stop investigating emotion-based AI.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the Muslim Justice League, and Access Now are among the organizations that have signed the letter.
The possibility that AI capable of identifying emotions may be applied to financial decisions—such as loan approval or hiring—is one of the main worries. That could make already-existing disparities worse.
“It is not meant for results to be used for judgments about employment or other similar matters. Zoom clarified that all suggested metric ranges are founded on publicly accessible research.
Zoom IQ monitors the following metrics:
Talk-to-listen ratio
Speaking at a fast pace
Extra words
Longest monologue or spiel
Be patient
Posing thought-provoking queries
Next actions assemble
Analysis of sentiment and engagement
The ACLU Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project’s deputy director, Esha Bhandari, referred to emotion-detecting AI as “junk science” and “creepy.”