International ride-sharing giant Uber is working on a new feature that uses artificial intelligence to decide whether customers are drunk.
The company has filed details of its 'Predicting User State Using Machine Learning' feature with the US Patent and Trademark Office.
#TuesdayThoughts '#Uber to use #AI to identify drunk passengers' Mixed feelings about this. YES to reducing sexual assault & pairing users with more experienced drivers, but tracking users to this level isn't cool. They need better vetting in general. https://t.co/qXNUIccTtk
— Rebecca Wissinger (@rjwissin) June 12, 2018
The company hopes the AI (artificial technology) system will be able to accurately predict when a user is drunk – and let the Uber driver know.
Once it is put into practice, the feature will learn how a customer typically uses the Uber app so it can spot when things get a little wobbly.
Hey @Uber can you not do the AI assessing drunkenness thing? Does that not just put drunk drivers back on the road? The whole point of Uber is to get plastered and CALL AN UBER. Whatever I’ll just use Lyft
— PostAlone (@Svper_Alec) June 13, 2018
The algorithm will count a host of factors - including the regularity of typos, typing speed, finger-precision, walking speed, the length of time it takes to order a car and the angle a phone is being held at - to decide if a user has been drinking.
The company could potentially use the technology to deny drunk users a ride – or match them with a driver “with experience or training with users having an unusual state.”
