Google knows everything right?
Then why can't it tell the difference between a toddler and her mother?
Google can't tell the difference between my wife and my daughter.
With all of its infinite wisdom and facial recognition software, it still has trouble distinguishing a 3-year-old girl from her (still young but not a toddler) mother.
What's up with that?
Facial un-recognition?
I'm specifically referring to the technology used in the Google (formerly Nest, I'm still confused about the branding here) outdoor camera. The camera is supposed to be smart enough to recognize familiar faces and potential intruders who may be strolling in my backyard. We have a few similar cameras set up around the perimeter of our home, but the one that seems to struggle the most is this Nest Floodlight cam.
When you open up the Google Home app, you'll see a feed from that camera along with highlights that it has recorded in the past 24 hours. We don't get a whole lot of interesting footage in our backyard camera. It's mostly the dog or yours truly lounging on the backyard couch or cooking on the grill.
But I'm still baffled every time I get a notification telling me that it recognizes my wife in the backyard when I know she isn't home. No, instead it's my daughter who quite frankly never hears "oh, you look just like your Mom!". If anything, she's been a spitting image of her Dad since birth, and only recently have I noticed more "mom-like" facial expressions.
What else could it confuse?
The point I'm making is that she really doesn't look anything like my wife at this age. Let's even just pretend that they do look really similar. There is still a two-foot height difference and some other physical differences that make them easily distinguishable from one another. Why can't Google's AI pick up on this?
It's pretty mind-boggling, right? It never confuses me with my dog when you may argue that our facial hair looks similar. It never thinks I'm a delivery person. There are no issues determining when a package has been dropped off or picked up from our front door. Most of the time I've been very impressed with the accuracy of the technology. But toddlers really seem to throw it for a loop. At the very least, I'd be more comfortable with it saying that my daughter was an "unidentifiable person". But no, Google is quite sure that sometimes my wife shrinks down in size when hanging out in the backyard.
Conclusion
What is the point of all this? Should I not get so bent out of shape about my unnecessarily high-tech artificial intelligence surveillance system not being perfect?
The thing that bothers me is that Google has really minimized the usability of their cameras if you don't pay their yearly subscription fee. One of the things this subscription gets you is (supposedly) accurate facial recognition software. With this, you'll know not to be alarmed when your dog is prowling around your yard at night and you can be alarmed when an unidentifiable man is lurking around your property instead.
But if we can't rely on this technology, what good is it?
I'm always looking to better my situation through the use of technology. Video surveillance isn't 100% necessary to my day-to-day life. We live in a pretty safe neighborhood after all. And Google's technology is the logical next iteration of the backyard camera experience. It should be making my life easier, and I should be happy to pay for this convenience. Instead, I'm losing track of where my daughter and wife are at any given time.
Come on Google, you should be able to do better than this! I never really asked for this technology in the first place, but if you're going to use it, make it work better!
Anyone else out there using these Google/Nest cameras with facial recognition? I'm sure I can't be the only one who is having mixed results.
Hey! I’m testing out some new polling tools that Substack has recently added. Keep your eyes on this section and please help me get some feedback by taking a second to choose an answer in my poll. Thank you!
Thanks for reading, I’ll see you next week!
P.S. - Are you looking for a coach? I’m looking to work with some potential new clients and would love to help you out. Are you struggling with screen addiction? Need some help building positive habits or ditching negative ones? Iterating on a new business idea and need some guidance? If you’d like a free 30-minute consultation chat, feel free to book some time with me here!