Largest gathering in human history: India searches for missing persons with AI

At the largest rally in human history, which began in India on Monday, authorities are relying on facial recognition and AI technology to help people who lose each other in the crowd. This was reported by Bloomberg with reference to the local police. They are using modern cameras, underwater drones and autonomous buoys to keep an eye on the up to 450 million people expected during the six-week event. Lost children or even elderly people who are deliberately left behind are a particularly distressing challenge at the regular gathering. Such incidents are even a popular theme in Bollywood films.

The whole EU in one place

The Maha Kumbh Mela is a regular pilgrimage festival held at four different locations in India. It is held every three, six and twelve years. The most important version of the festival only takes place every 144 years, and this year it is happening again. At the confluence of the Ganges and the Jamuna river, which is also revered as holy, in the city of Prayagraj (formerly Allahabad), the Hindu faithful wash themselves to rid themselves of their sins. Never before have so many people been expected to attend a Kumbh Mela as this year; there is talk of 400 to 450 million people over six weeks. That would be about as many people as live in the entire European Union.

“For the first time, we will use facial recognition and AI to find lost people,” Bloomberg quotes the local police chief as saying. As soon as someone reports a person missing at specially set up points, the AI tools can be used to search for them. On the first day alone, more than 250 missing persons were reunited with their relatives. The pilgrimage festival began on January 13 and will continue until February 26. The government has set up a fully equipped tent city covering an area of 40 square kilometers for the event and the hundreds of millions of people expected to attend.

(mho)