British stores turn to AI facial recognition against rising shoplifting rates

Surveillance company Facewatch is experiencing "exponential" demand for its AI-powered facial recognition system to identify repeat shoplifters, founder Simon Gordon said. The system works by having a store manager review security camera footage after an item is stolen, logging the thief's image into Facewatch's system for future alerts.

Critics say this technology infringes on privacy rights and often makes mistakes. But according to Gordon, the system currently has a 99.85% accuracy rate and data is only stored for two weeks, half the time of traditional security camera footage, reports CNN.