
Google Scrambles After Software IDs Photo of Two Black People as “Gorillas” - lingben
http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2015/06/30/google_s_image_recognition_software_returns_some_surprisingly_racist_results.html
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DanBC
> Ultimately, Google applied a secondary solution, reworking the system so
> that it wouldn’t tie photos to the “Gorilla” tag at all. Zunger writes that
> it is also working to develop a number of “longer-term fixes,” including
> identifying “words to be careful about in photos of people” and “better
> recognition of dark skinned faces.”

I hope photos of gorillas are not now marked as "black people" \- since
they've blocked the gorilla tag being used.

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DevPad
> Ultimately, Google applied a secondary solution, reworking the system so
> that it wouldn’t tie photos to the “Gorilla” tag at all

Looks like dirty fix.

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johansch
"Like I understand HOW this happens; the problem is moreso on the WHY"

Eh, what?

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hoverbear
They apparently are clever enough to understand the identification algorithm,
but not the social implications.

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l-jenkins
This is the problem with automatic image processing and categorization. It's
good, but mistakes like this can happen and embarrass an entire company.

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DevPad
Yeah, shit happens sometimes.

Especially for AI algos.

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Lawtonfogle
So assuming this was a mistaken classification that happened naturally and not
the result of someone purposefully training the system to do this... does this
mean we need to teach these systems to be politically correct? Confusing a dog
and a goat doesn't carry the same potential to cause extreme negative
publicity that an error like this does, especially when the system works well
enough that most other classification attempts are correct.

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fwn
We are affected by this mistake because we are socialised to be offended and
outraged by labeling we perceive as offensive. We do this to substitute an
impossible external enforcer (of common norms) with an internal, distributed
one.

It is tough, emotional work to understand that there is no need to punish an
algorithm. I guess it takes time and additional norms (e.g. devs saying they
are sorry, etc..) to adapt to this new existence of semiautomatic affronts.

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civilian
I'm curious what white people are mistaken for when you have close ups of
their faces. Potatoes?

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pvaldes
Great algorithm accuracy: 98,25% of DNA shared between gorillas and humans. I
could forgiven the error easily is someone tagged me as gorilla.

Modify tags with positive adjectives that work both ways like "Strong as a
gorilla" or "Happy as a chimp" and the 90% of the current problems will
dissapear.

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PaulHoule
If I called somebody a gorilla out of anger, I might end up apologizing to the
gorilla.

Gorillas are much better behaved than primates in general so I wouldn't be
insulted if somebody called me a gorilla.

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mikeyouse
> Gorillas are much better behaved than primates in general so I wouldn't be
> insulted if somebody called me a gorilla.

Then again, you likely don't belong to a race that was subjugated for
centuries by people comparing them to monkeys or gorillas to intentionally
dehumanize them.. Black athletes in foreign countries _still_ get bananas
thrown at them on the field. I can assure you, this isn't meant as a
compliment.

    
    
        Eberhardt described an experiment based on the
        Rodney King case. Participants viewed a video of
        police officers beating a Black suspect. Participants
        who saw words associated with apes before
        watching the video believed the officers’ actions 
        were more justified, compared to participants who 
        did not see the animal imagery. In a separate study, 
        Eberhardt found that people are more likely to 
        consider animal language (such as “barbaric,” 
        “animalistic,” etc.) appropriate and necessary in
        court cases of Black defendants compared to White 
        defendants. News articles describing Black 
        defendants are more likely to use animal language 
        than articles about White defendants.
    
        In addition, news articles of Blacks who received a 
        death sentence contain more animal language than 
        the articles of those with life sentences. “So not only 
        are Blacks associated with apes, but this 
        association is linked to justifications of violence and 
        death,” Eberhardt concluded. “It’s almost as though 
        the rules for what moral treatment is get shifted for 
        Black suspects and defendants.”
    

[http://gender.stanford.edu/news/2011/continued-
dehumanizatio...](http://gender.stanford.edu/news/2011/continued-
dehumanization-blacks)

~~~
PaulHoule
I'd say say that homo sap is on the list of worse behaved apes than Gorillas.
Chimpanzees and Gibbons will tear off your face, but it is a big mistake to
suppose animals are in a lower ethical state than humans, as animals don't

* have 20 cops beat up one suspect * deal crack * attack people with assault rifles out of hate * invent poison gas * find demeaning labels for one another, etc.

Look at animal behavior and it seems that animals are basically rational in
that they do things in the social space that raise their utility function.
This is not so clear in the case of humans (an herbivore will always express
satisfaction if you feed it, a human might not.)

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pswilson14
I think you may be missing the point here.

