back to article AI snaps business titan jaywalking

An Artificial Intelligence system in China publicly shamed one of the country’s most prominent business executive for jaywalking - after spotting their mug going past on the side of a bus. Dong Mingzhu, the chair and public face of industrial giant Gree Electric is a well known public figure in China, and beyond: Fortune named …

  1. A.P. Veening Silver badge

    To err is human

    To really screw up, you need a computer.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      @A.P. Veening - Re: To err is human

      and to really, really screw up you need AI on top of that.

  2. Anonymous Coward
    Big Brother

    And my friends and family are wondering...

    Why I don't do social media...

    Everytime they ask I point them to crap like this...

    1. ibmalone

      Re: And my friends and family are wondering...

      No social media involved here though, except for the automatically opted-in "computer says you" shaming the Ningbo police were running.

      1. imanidiot Silver badge

        Re: And my friends and family are wondering...

        But still, no need to provide the computers with conveniently tagged training data.

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    "Dong's company, for its part, said there were no hard feelings and thanked the force for "their hard work"."

    if they did much else they'd get down rated.

    1. Wellyboot Silver badge

      lucky escape

      Dev team will no doubt be mulling the outcome had it been Xi Jinping on the bus instead.

      1. Gonzo wizard
        Big Brother

        Re: lucky escape

        They've probably already trained their model to 'blank' the president and all his senior ministers.

        Recently spent three weeks in China with no idea that jaywalking could be an issue. Mind you the way they drive it's a brave person who crosses on red

        1. phuzz Silver badge
          Gimp

          Re: lucky escape

          "They've probably already trained their model to 'blank' the president and all his senior ministers."

          That could well be correct, in which case I wonder if the software recognises masks?

          Either way we have the makings of a really ugly t-shirt (William Gibson fans will understand).

    2. Pseudonymous Howard

      Hard work

      To thank someone for hard work when he actually did nothing and something went wrong anyway is one of the safer ways to utter criticism in systems like China.

  4. Flywheel

    Black Mirror

    .. is going to find it increasingly difficult to find original material for new episodes - looks like the Chinese keep doing it first.

  5. UncleNick

    So (crap) facial recognition == AI?

    /Looks suspiciously at the el cheapo compact camera on the desk...

  6. RyokuMas
    Stop

    Reading between the lines...

    "... Alphabet chairman Eric Schmidt warned recently."

    Translation: "Let us have access to even more data because war..."

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      "And by 2030, they will dominate the industries of AI"

      Yes, but if they had put the same effort used to hoard personal data to sell ads into developing something more useful maybe they would be more advanced...

      1. #define INFINITY -1

        Re: "And by 2030, they will dominate the industries of AI"

        Let us all take a moment to thank the vice called Greed....

  7. VinceH
    Joke

    [still from] "DeepEye promotional Video Click to enlarge"

    Are you sure that's not a still from the opening titles of Person of Interest?

  8. sorry, what?
    Unhappy

    I think I need to follow Ethan Hunt's example

    I need to create masks to wear whenever I go out of the house so *I* can't be tracked and can have some semblance of privacy.

    I'm probably kidding myself though.

    1. joeW

      Re: I think I need to follow Ethan Hunt's example

      Good idea. Although cameras can recognise your general build and body-shape too, you some kind of loose flowing cover for your entire body is in order. Maybe add a little mesh panel at the top for you to see out of.

      Wait a second...

      1. Jemma

        Re: I think I need to follow Ethan Hunt's example

        I can't see what you did there...

        1. Scroticus Canis
          Thumb Up

          Re: I can't see what you did there...

          You put it on back-to-front, the mesh bit is for the eyes ;)

      2. Sgt_Oddball

        Re: I think I need to follow Ethan Hunt's example

        No, no you just need to find a nearby bush. The trick is Not to be seen.

        That and not to standup when asked by a mysterious voice....

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Joke

      Muslim teocratic states will be at a crossroad....

      Keep on asking women to cover their faces, or employ image recognition to spot those who don't obey fully Sharia?

    3. DropBear

      Re: I think I need to follow Ethan Hunt's example

      "I need to create masks to wear whenever I go out of the house"

      Just get a bike and a tinted helmet. As long as you don't try to do any banking you should be fine...

    4. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: I think I need to follow Ethan Hunt's example

      Yes, they have software they say can recognize you by your gait, the way you walk etc...

      Let them ahead of us, unless you like the idea of going straight from Idiocracy to THX-1138.

  9. Pascal Monett Silver badge
    WTF?

    So they have an "AI" system dedicated to shaming jaywalkers ?

    China must actually be paradise on Earth to have no other problem than shaming jaywalkers.

    If they tried putting something like that in place in the Western world, in no time flat you'd have scores of bored teenagers competing to see how fast they could get their mug on the big screen.

    1. Wellyboot Silver badge

      Re: So they have an "AI" system dedicated to shaming jaywalkers ?

      Extra points for adopting a pose whilst bus surfing?

    2. #define INFINITY -1

      Re: So they have an "AI" system dedicated to shaming jaywalkers ?

      Chairman Mao he say "no trying to make silly of our government will be tolerated".

      Sorry... one of the worst British comedies of all time, but still relevant.

  10. tiggity Silver badge

    Jaywalking

    Being from the UK the concept of jaywalking is bizarre.

    We cross roads when we judge it to be safe

    Yes, we use zebra or light operated crossings when they are convenient, but if road is "empty" (including vehicles present but they will not reach you before you have crossed the road) then we cross. *

    Happy not to have car overlords (be they AI or human operated)

    * Obviously this does not apply to special case of Motorways which are pedestrian & cyclist free, but applies to mixed use roads.

    1. Hans Neeson-Bumpsadese Silver badge

      Re: Jaywalking

      Yes, we use zebra or light operated crossings when they are convenient, but if road is "empty" (including vehicles present but they will not reach you before you have crossed the road) then we cross

      When visiting the continent, where I understand jaywalking is more recognised, I'm always been a bit bemused by the fact that zebra crossing markings on roads seem to be universally ignored by drivers. The only purpose they seem to serve is as a marker for where the bodies of dead pedestrians are likely to pile up.

      1. Korev Silver badge

        Re: Jaywalking

        >I'm always been a bit bemused by the fact that zebra crossing markings on roads seem to be universally ignored by drivers.

        That depends on the country. Here in Switzerland they stop for you; in France drivers are supposed to stop but often don't. Living in a border area I'm always wary of French drivers for that reason.

        1. Androgynous Cupboard Silver badge

          Re: Jaywalking

          Being wary of french drivers is wise wherever you live. They can be tricky to spot in your rear view mirror, at least until they pull back a few feet.

          1. The Oncoming Scorn Silver badge
            Stop

            Re: Jaywalking

            I can't believe how I became conditioned to stand on a crossing waiting for a green walk light at - something stupid degrees C & with absolutely no traffic in Calgary in my vicinity.

            If I decide to run the risk of crossing while on red light, having followed the Tufty Club\SPLINK & Green Cross Code (In reverse cause they drive on the wrong side of the road, just because we are in a minority it doesn't make us wrong) & then repeating excessively looking out for cops* before stepping onto the road & crossing.

            Unlike Canadians (Who also think that vehicles have a magical ability to come to a dead stop the moment they step in front of a car), I continue to look left & right as I cross the road legally or not.

            I do miss the ability to cross the road freely & safely like I used to do in the UK.

            *The nanny state over here will see you with a fine if caught jaywalking.

            1. #define INFINITY -1
              Devil

              Re: Jaywalking

              You none of youse know nuffin. Down here (where it went extinct) we have 'quagga crossings'. It's a bit daft as a pedestrian to look for legal crossing places, 'cause there you'll be guaranteed to have to risk your life. Anywhere else you can probably time it.

      2. Gonzo wizard

        Re: Jaywalking

        After I'd used a zebra crossing a while ago a van driver (who hadn't been planning to stop) remarked that I was "supposed to wait for the traffic to stop". "If I did that I'd be here all day" was the reply.

        The Highway Code states that drivers are to look for people approaching or waiting at zebra crossings - and stop to let them cross. Pedestrians have the right of way - theoretically - even though they're not yet crossing the road. You learn something new every day!

        1. ibmalone

          Re: Jaywalking

          One of the many little details you notice when you re-read the highway code, it explicitly doesn't give anyone right of way, it says when you should give way. So for zebra crossings it says drivers should give way to people on the crossing. (And yes, that drivers should look out for people near crossings and be ready to slow down or stop. Oddly it doesn't say anything about actually slowing down, just, you know, be ready. "Yes I did run him over officer, but I was ready not to.")

        2. Hans Neeson-Bumpsadese Silver badge

          @Gonzo wizard Re: Jaywalking

          Pedestrians have the right of way - theoretically - even though they're not yet crossing the road

          Right of way != priority

          I think the legal interpretation of right of way is that you're allowed to traverse. What matter is priority. For example, at a lighted junction all traffic has right of way, i.e. they may pass along the tarmac on any bit of road. The important bit is that the traffic on the bit of road with a green light showing on the traffic signals.

    2. Korev Silver badge
      Pint

      Re: Jaywalking

      >Being from the UK the concept of jaywalking is bizarre.

      Having grown up in Cornwall, I found it odd to have to stop doing it when I started at university...

  11. Allan George Dyer

    They spray jaywalkers with water? It's so nice to have clean buses.

    Countdown until the first arrest of a bus?

  12. Tigra 07
    Pint

    Couldn't show a Dong on a bus over here in blighty - You'd get in trouble!

    1. adam 40 Silver badge

      Especially if next to (Ed) Balls!

    2. Scroticus Canis
      Holmes

      Couldn't show a Dong on a bus over here in blighty - You'd get in trouble!

      I've seen plenty of pictures of politicians on buses here!

  13. Voland's right hand Silver badge

    The United States sees itself as engaged in an "Artificial Intelligence arms race" with China.

    They are not the only ones. It effectively says the same, but the other usual suspect.(*)

    I do not know Farsi (my language knowledge is limited to native in 3 European and can read in 10+ more, everything else is double-dutch). However, I can bet that the Farsi speaking usual suspect has a similar speech. Ditto for Korean speaking usual suspect. Ditto for Bengali speaking usual suspect. Ditto for wherever else. I would not be surprised if there is an Eastern Timor speech to same effect.

    Everyone on the AI bandwagon. I, in the meantime will remind myself of my dad's fav saying: "There is no need to apply Artificial Intelligence when Natural Stupidity will suffice".

    (*)Can't be arsed to translate as I am already in the El Reg Russian Troll doubly moderated bucket. Otherwise translation services could have been provided.

  14. A-nonCoward
    Big Brother

    I, for one

    welcome our Intelifusin DeepEye overlords

  15. Paul J Turner

    Actually it's nowhere near as harmless an error as you might think

    China is introducing a reputational 'Social Credit' system where having a bad score and no means of redress can be REALLY BAD NEWS - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_Credit_System

    1. Korev Silver badge
      Big Brother

      Re: Actually it's nowhere near as harmless an error as you might think

      It's like they regarded Nosedive (Black Mirror episode) as a blue print and not as a warning...

  16. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Actually crossing the street involves both

    the driver and the pedestrian. As a driver, I always slow down and keep an eye on the pedestrian trying to guess his intention. Onto the other hand, as a pedestrian I look for eye contact with the driver trying to guess his intention of stopping. If he doesn't convince me, I'll wait for next opportunity even if I'm within my legal rights to cross.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Actually crossing the street involves both

      I have learned that if you get eye contact and they switch on their screen wipers in response, it's generally a bad idea to cross.

      :)

  17. bpfh
    Joke

    Did they really display...

    A big dong on the screen ?

    I’ll get my coat...

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