A facial recognition system in Thailand's government payment app failed to verify users for the 'Chim Shop Chai' subsidy program, forcing thousands of citizens to queue at bank branches for manual verification.
In October 2019, Thailand launched the 'Chim Shop Chai' government subsidy program through the Pao Tang mobile application. The program required users to verify their identity through facial recognition scanning to access benefits. However, the facial recognition system experienced widespread failures, unable to properly scan and verify users' faces against their national ID cards. Multiple users reported on social media that the system failed when their appearance differed from their ID photos due to changes in hairstyle, wearing glasses, or other facial differences. The verification failures forced citizens to queue at Krung Thai Bank branches nationwide, with some using shoes to hold their place in long lines. The app also experienced technical issues where users who successfully completed facial verification still showed zero balance. By February 2022, the 'Khon La Krueng Phase 4' program continued to experience similar facial recognition problems, with some users unable to verify even at bank branches or ATMs. The system required specific lighting conditions, exact facial positioning, and users had to match their current appearance closely to their ID card photos for successful verification.
Domain classification, causal taxonomy, severity scores, and national security assessments were LLM-classified and may contain errors.
AI systems that fail to perform reliably or effectively under varying conditions, exposing them to errors and failures that can have significant consequences, especially in critical applications or areas that require moral reasoning.
AI system
Due to a decision or action made by an AI system
Unintentional
Due to an unexpected outcome from pursuing a goal
Post-deployment
Occurring after the AI model has been trained and deployed