'Inaccurate' Chinese facial image criminality system accused of phrenology

Software developed by Chinese researchers was said to automatically detect with 85.5 percent certainty that a human is a criminal by analysing their facial features, prompting accusations of physiognomy, phrenology, and pseudoscience.

Xiaolin Wu and Xi Zhang, researchers at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, found that people with smaller mouths, curvier upper lips and closer-set eyes are more likely to be criminals. The research looked at 1,856 faces of Chinese men aged 18-55 with no facial hair, facial scars or other markings, of which 730 belonged to criminals.

Wu and Zhang stated in their study that they they do not intend to or are not 'qualified to discuss or debate on societal stereotypes'. They also said their system cultivated 'no biases whatsoever due to past experience, race, religion, political doctrine, gender, age, etc,' before acknowleding it should be tested using a dataset of different races, genders and facial expressions before it could be implemented on a broader scale. 

Given the software's potential for inaccuracy and bias, concerns were expressed that the system could wrongly identify criminals if used in the real-world.