VOA慢速英语2021--美国银行使用人工智能监视客户和员工

US Banks Use Artificial Intelligence to Watch Workers, Public

Several American banks have started using surveillance software and computer vision to watch people using their services. Computer vision is a part of artificial intelligence that uses computers to understand the world we see.

A Reuters news agency investigation² found that the software is used to learn about customers, watch employees and spot people sleeping near Automatic Teller³ Machines (ATMs).

Banks like the City National Bank of Florida and JPMorgan Chase & Co have tested facial recognition and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies. The growth of AI tools within the banking⁴ industry could signal the spread of the technology into other industries.

Bobby Dominguez is the chief information security officer at City National Bank. He said smartphones that open through facial recognition have shown the potential of the technology.

"We're already leveraging⁵ facial recognition on mobile," he said. "Why not leverage⁶ it in the real world?"

Dominguez said City National will begin testing facial recognition next year to identify customers and employees. He added the software could find people on government watch lists.

Facial recognition technology, however, has raised civil rights concerns among many people. Critics of the tool point to arrests of innocent people wrongly identified by the technology. The software is said to be used disproportionately in poorer and minority communities. Critics also say the technology results in a loss of privacy.

This year, Portland, Oregon, banned businesses from using facial recognition in public places. The drugstore company Rite⁷ Aid also closed a facial recognition program last year.

Fredrik Nilsson is the vice¹ president at Axis⁸ Communications, which makes surveillance cameras. He said a big question for banks with this technology is how the public will react to it.

Dominguez said he and other bank officials had thought about customers' concerns.

"We're never going to compromise our clients' privacy," Dominguez said.

Watching workers and customers

The largest American bank, JPMorgan, began using surveillance technology in 2019. Former employees said the bank researched videos and photos to learn more about their customers.

Video showed that more men would visit the bank before or after lunch. Women would come in the middle of the afternoon. Before the pandemic, the company was going to use the footage to see whether women avoided contact with others while using ATMs. JPMorgan said it uses the data to better plan work hours for employees and to design its banks.

A current employee said the bank could soon test facial recognition software on people as they enter a bank. People would need to agree to be a part of the test, however.

JPMorgan is using software that aims to measure how employees spend their time. Others seek to identify how many customers leave because of long lines and to find out how long transactions take.

The bank also said that facial, race and gender⁹ recognition are not part of the test.

Targeting homeless people

Banks have wanted to use computer vision for security for a long time. More than 10 years ago, Wells Fargo used old software to study video of crimes to see if any faces matched known criminals.

An official at a bank in America's South said that computer vision is being used at all of his company's banks. It creates warnings when doors to safes or other important rooms are left open.

Outside, the bank watches for people loitering. Some homeless people set up shelters underneath¹⁰ covered ATMs. Security workers can play a sound message asking those people to leave, the official said.

Brian Karas works at Airship Industries, which creates computer vision software. He said that banks have long been concerned with people sleeping in ATM spaces where people use machines to do their banking business.

Some software can sound an alarm or shine a bright light when cameras see a person loitering, Karas said. He added that the companies did not want to displace people seeking shelter, but that the company believed it was necessary to make ATMs safe and available.

Bank of America, the country's second largest bank, has also invested in computer vision. At a September 2019 conference with the bank, the company AnyVision explained how it could identify the face of a Bank of America official.

The bank said, "We are always reviewing potential new technology solutions that are on the market."

Words in This Story

surveillance-n. the act of carefully watching someone or something especially in order to prevent or detect a crime

vision-n. the ability to see : sight or eyesight

potential-n. a quality that something has that can be developed to make it better

leverage–n. influence or power used to achieve a desired result

disproportionate-adj. having or showing a difference that is not fair, reasonable, or expected ; too large or too small in relation to something

privacy-n. the state of being alone : the state of being away from other people

transaction-n. the act or process of doing business with another person, company, etc.

loiter-v. to remain in an area when you do not have a particular reason to be there

1 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

2 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

3 teller   

n.银行出纳员；(选举)计票员

参考例句：

• The bank started her as a teller.银行起用她当出纳员。
• The teller tried to remain aloof and calm.出纳员力图保持冷漠和镇静。

4 banking   

n.银行业，银行学，金融业

参考例句：

• John is launching his son on a career in banking.约翰打算让儿子在银行界谋一个新职位。
• He possesses an extensive knowledge of banking.他具有广博的银行业务知识。

5 leveraging   

促使…改变( leverage的现在分词 )； [美国英语]杠杆式投机，（使）举债经营，（使）利用贷款进行投机

参考例句：

• De-leveraging is a painful process: it has barely begun. 去杠杆化是个痛苦的过程：它才刚刚开始。
• Archimedes said, saying: Give me a fulcrum, I can leveraging the Earth. 阿基米德说过一句话：给我一个支点，我可以撬动地球。

6 leverage   

n.力量，影响；杠杆作用，杠杆的力量

参考例句：

• We'll have to use leverage to move this huge rock.我们不得不借助杠杆之力来移动这块巨石。
• He failed in the project because he could gain no leverage. 因为他没有影响力，他的计划失败了。

7 rite   

n.典礼，惯例，习俗

参考例句：

• This festival descends from a religious rite.这个节日起源于宗教仪式。
• Most traditional societies have transition rites at puberty.大多数传统社会都为青春期的孩子举行成人礼。

8 axis   

n.轴，轴线，中心线；坐标轴，基准线

参考例句：

• The earth's axis is the line between the North and South Poles.地轴是南北极之间的线。
• The axis of a circle is its diameter.圆的轴线是其直径。

9 gender   

n.（生理上的）性，（名词、代词等的）性

参考例句：

• French differs from English in having gender for all nouns.法语不同于英语，所有的名词都有性。
• Women are sometimes denied opportunities solely because of their gender.妇女有时仅仅因为性别而无法获得种种机会。

10 underneath   

adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面

参考例句：

• Working underneath the car is always a messy job.在汽车底下工作是件脏活。
• She wore a coat with a dress underneath.她穿着一件大衣，里面套着一条连衣裙。