Stanford facial recognition software spots gay people
- Author:Ella Cai
- Release on:2017-09-12
Stanford University has caused a social storm by producing facial recognition technology that can spot gay people.
The university says its software recognises facial features relating to sexual orientation that are not perceived by human observers.
Researchers used the photos of more than 14,000 white Americans.
“Gay faces tended to be gender atypical,” the researchers said. “Gay men had narrower jaws and longer noses, while lesbians had larger jaws.”
Civil rights groups Glaad and HRC condemned the findings as junk science.
The researchers responded: “Our findings could be wrong… however, scientific findings can only be debunked by scientific data and replication, not by well-meaning lawyers and communication officers lacking scientific training. However, if our results are correct, Glaad and HRC representatives’ knee-jerk dismissal of the scientific findings puts at risk the very people for whom their organisations strive to advocate.”
The university says its software recognises facial features relating to sexual orientation that are not perceived by human observers.
Researchers used the photos of more than 14,000 white Americans.
“Gay faces tended to be gender atypical,” the researchers said. “Gay men had narrower jaws and longer noses, while lesbians had larger jaws.”
Civil rights groups Glaad and HRC condemned the findings as junk science.
The researchers responded: “Our findings could be wrong… however, scientific findings can only be debunked by scientific data and replication, not by well-meaning lawyers and communication officers lacking scientific training. However, if our results are correct, Glaad and HRC representatives’ knee-jerk dismissal of the scientific findings puts at risk the very people for whom their organisations strive to advocate.”
