Stanford University Creates Software To Forcibly Out Gay People

New artificial intelligence can tell whether people are gay or straight based on a picture of their face.

New advances in AI research means machines have up to a 91% accuracy when deducing someones sexuality.
The study was done by Stanford University. The machine intelligence tested in the research was based on a sample of more then 35,000 pictures of men and women’s faces.
The computer algorithm could correctly distinguish between gay and straight men 81% of the time, and 74% of the time for gay and straight women.
That is from looking at a single image.
When given five images per person, the accuracy rate goes up to 91% of the time for men and 83% for women.

Human judges performed much worse with only a 61% accuracy with pictures of men, and 54% of women.
The researchers responsible, Michal Kosinski and Yilun Wang, say the computer used its ‘deep neural networks.’
The paper suggested the findings provide strong support for the theory sexual orientation is innate. It also suggests the machine’s lower success rate for women supports the idea that female sexual orientation is more fluid.
If in the wrong hands, this software is a scary sign of the future. It could be used to out people without their permission or pave the way for people to be abused based on their sexual orientation.
There is also a question surrounding the ethics of facial-detection technology.
Hypothetically, anti-LGBT governments could use the software to out and target LGBT people.
The authors of the research argue similar technology already exists.

They believe it is important to talk about such technology so governments and companies can consider privacy risks and the need for safeguards and regulations.
According to research, gay men and women tend to have ‘gender-atypical’ features, expressions and ‘grooming styles.’
This suggests gay men appear more feminine and gay women appear more masculine.
The data also suggested certain trends in the face shape of men and women.
It claims gay men have narrower jaws, longer noses and larger foreheads than straight men.
On the other side, gay women had larger jaws and smaller foreheads compared to straight women.

People of color, trans people, and bisexual people were not considered in the study.

My take on this is why?
I question the ethical morals of the ones who felt the need to create something they knew full well has the potential to be extremely life damaging in the wrong hands and for the wrong reasons.
Face it, this software has only one practical use, outing gay people against their will.
Goes to show, just because someone can do something doesn't necessitate that it be done... epic fail Stanford University.