Meme Stock Alfi’s Facial Recognition Ad Technology Fans Privacy Concerns
The artificial intelligence software company uses metrics like age and gender to target highly specific ads to people in public places
Illustration: Steph Davidson
Alfi Inc., a small artificial intelligence software company, has ambitious plans to use facial recognition to target individualized ads to
people as they walk through an airport, a shopping mall or stare at a screen in the back of an Uber.
The idea could resonate with an ad industry that’s grappling with the demise of tracking people across the internet through cookies. But the company, which has yet to sign up more than one advertiser, is also sparking some of the same concerns about privacy that has stymied even the more traditional tech giants. This disproportionate gap between its vision and its fundamentals has made Alfi a popular meme stock, subject to wide swings in its share price.
Alfi’s software is designed to show ads to people based on their age, gender and ethnicity without specifically identifying the person. Using “small facial cues,” the company says it can then provide information to advertisers about a person’s reaction to a product.