Indonesian AI passport gates block man after mistaking him for David Bowie T-shirt
Exclusive: ‘Surprisingly there seemed to be little overlap between my face and a picture of a young David Bowie,’ said 74-year-old Terry Bezant
Aliver
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A British visitor just arrived on the Indonesian island of Bali was repeatedly blocked from using the automatic passport gates – because the AI system used to match the holder’s face with their photograph was fixated on a different image.
Terry Bezant, a lawyer from Milton Keynes, felt under pressure as he repeatedly failed to clear the “autogates” at Denpasar airport in Bali.
“I tried five times to get through the barrier, using three different gates,” he told The Independent.
“But the Indonesian AI systems would not budge. The screen consistently told me to consult an official – but there were none to be seen.”
The autogates were installed in March 2024 at the main entry point for Bali. The Indonesian island receives over six million foreigners a year.
Mr Bezant’s wife, Deborah, passed smoothly through the automated barriers and waited for her husband.
“As I was on the very verge of breakdown, Deborah brilliantly identified the problem,” he said.
“The dumb machine was trying to match my passport photo to the image of a young David Bowie emblazoned on my T-shirt.
“Surprisingly there seemed to be little overlap.”
Using AI, The Independent has dated the David Bowie image to 1969 – when the star was 22.
Mr Bezant is 74.
In a conservative, Muslim-majority nation, the weary passenger could not remove the T-shirt in order to persuade the machine to do its job properly.
“Remedial action was taken by my donning a thick fleece in the 31C heat,” Mr Bezant reports.
“On we stumbled to Arrivals.”
Indonesia’s Directorate General of Immigration maintains a “cease and desist” register, with facial recognition used to identify travellers of interest. It is not believed that either Mr Bezant or the late Mr Bowie has appeared on the register.
The couple faced no further problems and are enjoying their planned island holiday.
The couple will return ahead of Balinese New Year on 29 March, when the island – including its airport – effectively shuts down.
The Australian government warns travellers: “Be aware of the day of silence observed from 6am on 29 March to 6am on 30 March.
“You'll be required to stay indoors, turn off lights, and keep noise to a minimum. Shops, restaurants and tourist sites will be closed although hotels will continue to operate. Movement or travel, physical work, and all forms of entertainment and recreation is prohibited.”
Mr and Mrs Bezant hope to be safely back in Milton Keynes by then.
Travellers arriving in the UK have endured successive failures of e-gates at passport control due to IT “glitches”.
