Canon put AI cameras in its Chinese offices that only let smiling workers inside

Canon is famous for putting a lot of effort and innovation into its products. The camera company is already has a slew of patents in its name for future technologies. This time, the business has repurposed an old product. According to the newest report, Canon uses its cameras to determine whether or not its workers are doing effectively in the workplace. But how?

In its China headquarters, Canon has installed cameras with AI-enabled smile recognition technology. The cameras with this unique function identify the employees with smiling faces. They are only permissible inside the workplace if they smile. It is to guarantee that staff are feeling completely content and are not under any stress. This, however, cannot be the only explanation.

China: An easy target for Canon’s experiment

China’s surveillance system is well-known when it comes to keeping track of its citizens’ movements and activities. The government is extremely vigilant. The plight begins when Chinese firms decide to use AI and algorithms to monitor employees to an alarming degree. The Financial Times reported this.

Furthermore, corporations use CCTV cameras to monitor which program employees use on their computers. Mobile applications also track the time spent on lunch breaks. Also, the movements of employees outside of the workplace.
According to another source, one employee posted on Weibo (China’s version of Twitter), “So now the companies are not only manipulating our time but also our emotions.”

“Workers are not being replaced by algorithms and artificial intelligence. Instead, the management is being sorted of augmented by these technologies,” King’s College London academic Nick Srnicek told The Financial Times. “Technologies are increasing the pace for people who work with machines instead of the other way around. Just like what happened during the industrial revolution in the 18th century.”

“Fake a smile”

As a workplace management tool, the new smile recognition technology was out in 2020. This technique received attention for obvious reasons, such as the fact that it requires employees to “fake a smile” to get entry into their workplace. The acceptance of AI cameras with smile recognition technology in worldwide markets is still up in the air. As a result, Canon Information Technology found China to be an easy target.

Meanwhile, Canon China defends the technology, claiming that it was a creation just to foster a good environment. We have been wanting to encourage employees to create a positive atmosphere by utilizing this system with the smile detection setting ON,” a Canon spokesperson told Nikkei Asia. Mostly, people are just too shy to smile. But once they get used to smiles in the office, they just keep their smiles without the system which created a positive and lively atmosphere.”

However, the new technology appears to be more of a privacy violation than a beneficial tool. So it’ll be fascinating to watch how Canon tries to promote this technology in other countries.