An academic explains why the automated software is alarmingly incompetent. Plus, more news bytes of the week including an op-ed written by a robot!
A University of Colorado librarian has some very strong feelings about proctoring software, which is being relied upon more and more as schools in pandemic-stricken areas carry out distance learning.
In an opinion piece published by MIT Technology Review, Shea Swauger wrote that working in a college has given him a ring-side seat to the negative impact algorithmic proctoring software can have on students through its reinforcement of white supremacy, sexism, ableism (discrimination in favor of able-bodied people), and transphobia. “Although technologies like facial recognition have advanced incredibly, they are not bullet-proof,” commented Avast Security Evangelist Luis Corrons. “If you have a low-resolution camera, like the ones usually integrated in laptops, and you’re in a room with poor light, the software is probably going to struggle. And we need to take into account that it is being used not just to recognize a face, but to follow it in real time and figure out if anything suspicious is going on.” Many options for proctoring software crowd the online marketplace, including Examity, HonorLock, Protorio, Repsondus, and the unfortunate ProctorU, which suffered a data breach last month.
Proctoring software was developed as a tool to monitor students while they take a test. Depending on the software being used, it utilizes AI, machine learning, and/or biometrics. The biometrics can include facial recognition, eye tracking, etc. Swauger maintains that the algorithms driving the software are severely l ..
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