Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been deployed in taxis across Dubai…

If you were thinking about chancing it without a face mask in a Dubai taxi, it’s probably best to think again. Dubai’s Road and Transport Authority (RTA) has announced that Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology has been deployed in taxis across Dubai to detect if you’re not wearing one.

The technologies have been put in place to detect if anyone happens to be violating the current mandatory requirements to prevent the spread of COVID-19. This includes, as per government directives, wearing a face mask at all times and observing social distancing.

The AI devices that can be found in all Dubai taxis can scan human faces, and subsequently, determine if a mask is being worn or not. Additionally, the distance between a passenger and the driver can be calculated through a smart mathematical feature.

You might also like

Sheikh Mohammed launches Dubai's New Media Academy
Abu Dhabi extends movement restrictions by a further week

Ahmed Mahboub, Executive Director of Smart Services, Corporate Technology Support Services Sector, RTA said, “AI technologies have been employed to monitor and verify the compliance with the preventive measures undertaken to limit the spread of the Coronavirus.”

He added, “The technology can also report offences such as the failure to observe physical distancing, and the improper wearing of face masks, thanks to video analysis feature”.

Mahboub also revealed that, “The use of AI technologies proved very effective and achieved a success rate of 100%. The introduction of this technology was on a trial base, and according to the deliverables, the technology will be generalised to all fleet vehicles”

The AI technology can process videos spanning an impressive 200 thousand hours per day. This negates the need for human analysis which would take a lot of time and effort.

It’s not yet clear whether this data would be submitted to Dubai Police, if a passenger was found to be in violation of the government directives.

Image: Dubai Media Office