The recently released results of the Face Recognition Grand Challenge now show that computers are capable at outperforming humans in face recognition tasks. The recent match up of face-recognition algorithms showed that machine recognition of human individuals has improved tenfold since 2002 and a hundredfold since 1995. Indeed, the best face-recognition algorithms now perform more accurately than most humans can manage. Overall, facial-recognition technology is advancing rapidly.
Check out Mark Williams’s article for the Technology Review for a rundown of some of the entries for the grand challenge. This story was also recently covered on slashdot.