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A research team in Shanghai has stirred up far-reaching controversy after releasing a paper indicating that computers can tell if a person will become a criminal based merely on his or her facial features.

In the paper, titled “Automated Inference on Criminality using Face Image,” Wu Xiaolin and Zhang Xi, two researchers from Shanghai Jiaotong University, say they ran computer tests using 1,856 images of real people. According to Wu and Xi, the tests revealed "some discriminating structural features for predicting criminality, such as lip curvature and inner-eye corner distance.” They believe that the tests have produced evidence for "the validity of automated face-induced inference on criminality, despite the historical controversy surrounding the topic.”

The article soon went viral online, with many researchers criticizing the findings as discriminatory and irresponsible.

“We were unlucky to release our paper around the time when Trump won the [U.S. presidential] election. Some emails from the U.S. criticized us, saying that the U.S. already has enough trouble and we should not add fuel to the fire. Some Chinese netizens, on the other hand, suggested that we help the Commission of Discipline Inspection [to catch corrupt officials],” Wu told Thepaper.cn during an interview.

Denouncing criticism of the research as “discrimination based on phrenology,” Wu stressed that he has no intention of supporting discrimination based solely on facial features.

“We simply found some correlation between facial features and certain social behaviors. I myself am against discrimination based on facial features … Our research can also serve as evidence to fight discrimination,” Wu added.

According to Wu, the team’s current goal is to deepen the research, though they have no plans to put it to use in the field of criminology.

“The relationship between ethics and scientific development is hard to explain. Should nuclear physicists be responsible for damage caused by nuclear bombs?” Wu mused.