Phrenology's Modern Echoes

Phrenology's modern echoes in AI facial analysis tools claim to predict criminality or personality traits from facial features, but these systems are 40% less accurate than basic chance in controlled studies. The 19th-century practice of reading skull bumps was debunked as pseudoscience by 1840, and today's software relies on the same flawed logic with a 70% false-positive rate. This pseudoscience named flat earth movement also uses institutional distrust, but phrenology's AI version is more dangerous as it influences real-world policing decisions.