Couples in Xian, China will soon be able to register their marriages with face scans
- By end-September, all marriage registries in Xian will have automated terminals where couples can obtain their marriage certificates by scanning their faces
- Officials say the move is expected to increase efficiency and reduce errors from filling out paperwork
Making your marriage official with just a scan of your face may sound a little far-fetched, but in a few months it will be an option for soon-to-wed couples in Xian, the capital city of China’s central Shaanxi province.
By the end of September, all marriage registries in the city will have automated, AI-powered terminals where couples can obtain their marriage certificates by scanning their faces or identification cards, local newspaper Hua Shang Daily reported on Thursday.
With the introduction of the system, the entire process of registering a marriage can be carried out electronically, which authorities expect to increase efficiency and reduce errors from filling out paperwork, according to the report. A digital version of the marriage certificate will be recorded in the system as proof of the marriage’s legitimacy, the report added.
Xian is not the first Chinese city to experiment with using AI to process marriage applications – Chengdu in Sichuan province rolled out a trial for a similar system to register 2,500 couples last year, according to Chinese news outlets. The system has been able to identify users consistently against a public security database, even with some wearing make-up or having undergone minor plastic surgery procedures, according to the reports.
The digitalisation of the marriage registration process is part of an ongoing push by local authorities to move offline services online, which has been accelerated amid measures to reduce human contact during the coronavirus outbreak.
