AI Can Now Sense Human Sexual Orientations from Photographs – Analytics Insight
AI algorithms are better at detecting sexual orientations than humans.
The sexuality of humans is a critical juncture that often puts sexologists in soups. Ever since the decriminalization of LGBTQA+ human sexuality, sexual orientations have been a subject of study, which are far away from conclusion still.
What seems impossible becomes possible with artificial intelligence (AI). In recent days, an AI algorithm was able to deduce the sexuality of people with 90.05% accuracy on a dating site. The new AI algorithm infers sexual orientations of people based on photographs of their faces. The AI-powered algorithm has only demonstrated its expertise in sensing gay sexualities, which are now addressed as “gaydar”. Gaydar is gradually emerging to be an acclaimed sexuality detector that delivers quick and authentic judgments than humans.
The AI-powered gaydar algorithm is the result of a recent discovery of a study in Stanford University that can correctly distinguish between gay and straight men and women. Inculcated in a dating app, the new AI algorithm delivers accurate results 81% of the time in cases of men and 74% in cases of women.
Unethical Streaks in the Technological Endeavor of Sexuality Detection
Besides delivering accurate results, the AI-powered sexuality detector has raised questions on ethical face detection technology. Experts have speculated that sexuality detection through facial features technology is asymmetrical to the ethics of the LGBTQA+ community. According to certain economists and sexologists, this software can potentially disrupt people’s privacy thereby meddling with the dignity of the LGBTQA+ community on whole. A study on “science of gaydar” criticizes the technology and states that it can fall into wrong hands and detection of sexuality based on facial appearances makes people more prone to prejudice and sexual dogmatism.
It has been scientifically proven that a person’s sexuality can be drawn based on the hormonal dynamism in their bodies. This strongly supports the discourse that sexuality and sexual orientation are natural and not a choice. But the matter of concern here is also a violation of consent. A study suggests that gaydar can detect the sexuality of netizens without their consent, which is an illicit affair. However, people of color are not included in the study.
How does the Gaydar Function?
It is indeed debatable that a person’s sexuality can be inferred from their facial features. In this context, a report released by the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology is relevant. The report talks about 35,000 facial images of men and women that were detected by gaydar. The researchers Yilen Wang and Michal Kosinski used deep neural networks to extract features to analyze visuals based on large data sets.
The Objectives of AI-powered Gaydar
Alongside the speculations made on the ethical authenticity of the AI-powered sexual detector, contradictory opinions on the need to expose the gaydar to the government are also pinned down. Some experts accord that this technology is crucial for dating apps as it helps to maintain transparency between people. The technological capabilities of algorithms should be well-known to the government so that safety and security measures can be formulated for the people.
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