Abstract
Computer vision and other biometrics data science applications have commenced a new project of profiling people. Rather than using 'transaction generated information', these systems measure the 'real world' and produce an assessment of the 'world state' - in this case an assessment of some individual trait. Instead of using proxies or scores to evaluate people, they increasingly deploy a logic of revealing the truth about reality and the people within it. While these profiling knowledge claims are sometimes tentative, they increasingly suggest that only through computation can these excesses of reality be captured and understood. This article explores the bases of those claims in the systems of measurement, representation, and classification deployed in computer vision. It asks if there is something new in this type of knowledge claim, sketches an account of a new form of computational empiricism being operationalised, and questions what kind of human subject is being constructed by these technological systems and practices. Finally, the article explores legal mechanisms for contesting the emergence of computational empiricism as the dominant knowledge platform for understanding the world and the people within it.
Abstract (translated)
计算机视觉和其他生物识别数据科学应用已经开始了一个新的项目，对人进行分析。这些系统不是使用“事务生成的信息”，而是测量“真实世界”，并生成“世界状态”的评估——在这种情况下，是对某些个人特征的评估。他们不再使用代理或分数来评估人们，而是越来越多地运用一种逻辑来揭示现实和现实中的人的真相。虽然这些分析知识的主张有时是试探性的，但它们越来越多地表明，只有通过计算，才能捕捉和理解这些现实的过度。本文探讨了在计算机视觉中部署的测量、表示和分类系统中这些声明的基础。它询问这种类型的知识主张是否有新的东西，描绘出一种正在操作的计算经验主义的新形式，并质疑这些技术系统和实践正在构建什么样的人类主题。最后，本文探讨了对计算经验主义作为认识世界及其内部人的主要知识平台的出现提出质疑的法律机制。
URL
https://arxiv.org/abs/1904.10016
