It’s time to implement artificial intelligence (AI) in South African elections to eliminate the growing potential for human error.

“In 2019, we should not be relying on ink to ensure the integrity of election results. Imagine marking travelers’ thumbs to try control entry into South Africa,” says Laurence Seberini, co-founder of Camatica.

This Johannesburg-based facial recognition start-up believes Elections 2019 were a watershed as potentially serious issues made their presence felt.

AI-powered facial recognition technology implemented for the upcoming municipal elections in two years time could help eliminate issues around the lack of ballot papers, inappropriate election officials and, most importantly, the obsolete marking of thumbs.

“Facial recognition is used in the serious business of running airports and securing borders. Why can’t we also trust this proven AI technology to run elections?”, asks Mr Seberini.

“For many of us, facial recognition is becoming our first exposure to the growing phenomenon of Artificial Intelligence. Camera-based facial recognition is finding growing favour within corporate South Africa as a way to fairly and accurately manage employee attendance in the workplace,” Mr Seberini says.

South African elections follow a five-year cycle, with national and provincial elections held simultaneously and municipal elections held two years later.

Mr Seberini explains that travelers and shoppers are already being scanned for their safety by state-of-the-art optics at airports, retail stores and other public places where citizens’ safety could be compromised by repeat troublemakers worthy of attention.

He believes facial recognition technology should be scanning voters, in particular, to eliminate repeat voting and quickly identify known criminals. Scanning should also be implemented to manage officials, particularly those working in remote polling stations.

“South Africa’s elections are run better than elections in most developed world countries. However, to ensure this track record is maintained well into the future, we need to move with the times and implement state-of-the-art election management solutions,” concludes Mr Seberini.

Mr Seberini’s firm has developed a range of AI-powered facial recognition solutions specifically-designed for different business sectors including retail, transportation and human resources. The firm is now focused on rolling-out its proprietary technology within several public sector environments it believes could benefit from AI.  

More information is available on camatica.co.za.