Artificial intelligence keeps getting creepier. In one controversial study, researchers at Stanford University have demonstrated that facial recognition technology can identify gay people with surprising precision, although many caveats apply. Imagine how that could be used in the many countries where homosexuality is a criminal offense.
The lead author of the "gaydar" study, Michal Kosinski, argues that he's merely showing people what's possible, so they can take appropriate action to prevent abuse. I'm not convinced.
When people hear about algorithms recognizing people through masks, finding terrorists and identifying criminals, they tend to think of dystopian movies like "Minority Report," in which Tom Cruise prevented murders with the help of "precogs" — human beings with supernatural, albeit fatally flawed, foresight caused by a childhood neurological disease.
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