The great debate: study proves whether people or algorithms are best at facial ID

Face recognition is a vital and controversial area, with its use by police and government under scrutiny worldwide. Accurate use of the technology is paramount, and in law enforcement the responsibility for identification falls primarily to professional forensic facial experts. Yet despite the societal importance of face ID applications, remarkably little is known about the accuracy of professionals relative to others with no training – and nothing is known about how human experts compare to state-of-the-art face recognition technology.