Evaluating the Risks and Rewards of Integrating AI into Biometrics for Organizations

“AI in biometrics in companies is not just a trend, rather a requirement to protect? their assets, data? and workforce” - Dr. Arun Ross?

As employers struggle with labor shortages , more of them are adopting artificial intelligence(AI) and biometric solutions for executing and managing their HR processes. Biometrics and Artificial Intelligence ?are unlocking new perspectives? of security and productivity at the workplace.?

The benefits of integrating Algorithms in biometrics are enormous. Biometrics applied along with AI in the form of scanning voices and facial expressions in video interviews can help in remote recruiting and ensuring candidate? authentication? before hiring them. AI and biometrics at the workplace can minimize occupational hazards and boost employee efficiency.?

While the proponents of AI and biometric authentication? technologies praise their efficiency, critics raise their concerns over the? possibility for unregulated bias and discrimination in AI enabled solutions? thereby negatively affecting hiring and retention practices in the organizations.?

We at HRMatters have critically analyzed the risks and rewards of integrating AI into? biometrics for organizations and the possible impacts on their HR practices.

Also read: What are the Types of Biometric Attendance Software? Cost, Best Usage in 2023

What are? AI ?Biometrics ?

Biometric technology uses unique traits of a specific body part such as iris and gait patterns, facial recognition and fingerprint scans to transform these features? into codes that can be easily understood by the system. Furthermore, the typing speed and patterns of a person and voice recognition can also be evaluated to identify? a person using AI biometrics.?

Various Techniques? of Biometric ID Verification

Iris recognition: Uses a camera technology when an iris is exposed to infrared rays. The iris scanner captures the eye images and analysis upon more than 200 points comparing rings, freckles and furrows. It draws the patterns and matches them with the user.?

However, users? find it as an unpleasant experience to adopt at a certain position so that the scanner can scan the iris. Furthermore, this? technology is highly accurate yet it may come at the cost of speed.?

Retina Recognition: It is more reliable than iris recognition due to its less exposure to the external environment. A scanner is used for scanning the blood vessels at the back of the retina , which is unique to every employee. The pattern is matched with that of the existing pattern.?

Even though the employees are? cooperative, it becomes difficult to scan a high quality raw image of the retina as the scan area is too small.??

Fingerprint Recognition: It is one of the oldest technologies and uses furrows and ridges of the fingers for identifying the traits. The fingerprint scanner scans the user’s image but it can be replicated even stored in an encoded form. The image can be compared and therefore , the same code can be generated. In short, it is not necessary that? the fingerprint identified for recognition is attached to the body.?

Facial Recognition: A facial recognition analyzes the position and shape of various parts of the face and skin to determine the match. It is derived from face detection technology that is used for identifying a particular face amongst a crowd of suspicious individuals.?

However, face recognition technology has some limitations such as it scans the face from the hairline down .It requires the person to be looking straight into the camera to maintain the accuracy of the recognition . Although it is evolving rapidly, it is not competitive to iris scanning or vein pattern recognition.

Voice Recognition: With over 60% of the workforce? working remotely,? it becomes mandatory for the organizations? with the right voice recognition tool. As per the Gartner analysis, the? incorporation of speech-to-text applications at work has been fueled by the integration of chatbots and virtual personal assistants by organizations . This results in enhanced productivity and mobility for remote working employees.?

Although speech recognition technology has been evolved to a greater extent, there are many limitations on its applications.For example, barriers to accurate speech recognition include background noise and difference in languages and dialects.?

AI into Biometrics at the Workplace - Boon or Bane??

Eventually, the integration of biometrics in? AI comes with certain risks and challenges. Two of the greatest risks are mentioned below:

• Employee Risk: Biometric Data cannot be modified? or canceled?

Data breaches resulting due to biometric data being stolen presents a significant challenge to the employees providing their data to the employers. The biometric data cannot be easily modified , which implies that employees providing their data would face security or authentication risks for the rest of their lives.?

• Employer Risk: Challenges faced with Biometric Data while following Legislations?

Biometrics are sensitive information under Personal Data Protection Law. Organizations covered under this act must comply with its regulations while integrating? biometric technologies into their processes. In this regard, they must consider the probable risks, least privacy invasive options, prudently check and update employee details and get employee consent.?

The employers must manage these risks by getting a periodical audit done for AI bias creep. They must also? require indemnification agreements from breach of applicable laws and regulations required from third party vendors involved in managing employee biometric data . Steps should also be taken to minimize ‘function creep’ which implies that data retrieved from one purpose is used for another.??

Final Words?

The implementation of biometrics and AI at the workplace come with its risks and rewards . It can enhance security, productivity and convenience in identifying employees and regulating access to sensitive data on one hand , while on the other raises concern over security and probable biases in technology. So, it becomes crucial for employers to prudently analyze the probable risks and rewards of biometrics, incorporate sufficient controls and safeguards and ensure? transparency and consent from their employees .?

We at HRMatters have? integrated AI into Biometrics to enable employers to keep a track on their employee’s activities. Experience the future of employee management with AI and biometrics . We let you implement smarter employee management tactics with AI enabled biometrics to boost your productivity? and profits as well.?

Experience hassle-free employee tracking and management with AI-driven biometrics with HRMatters!?

?For more information: What is Biometric Attendance Software? 10+ Best Features of ?Biometric Software.