4 ms·

Facial recognition along with just cameras in general have historically struggled with the faces of non-caucasian individuals. This typically results from biase

Facial recognition along with just cameras in general have historically struggled with the faces of non-caucasian individuals. This typically results from biases in training sets and in many cases cameras simply creating images with far more contrast for lighter skin tones.

pbhjpbhj 7y ago
It seems more likely a function of actual contrast in the real World than a function of bias (inadvertent or otherwise)? I imagine it's down to skin tone, or do facial recognition systems really recognise dark skinned "Caucasians" better than light-skinned non-Caucasians.
- keanzu 7y ago
  Exactly: In the extreme, perfectly black objects have no visible contrast whatsoever as demonstrated by Vantablack. https://www.wired.com/story/vantablack-anish-kapoor-stuart-semple/ https://www.wired.com/story/vantablack-anish-kapoor-stuart-s...
keanzu 7y ago
> faces of non-caucasian individuals The Chinese government, operating the biggest surveillance state on the planet, have had no trouble with the faces of non-caucasian individuals, historically or otherwise. Their facial recognition systems are highly adept at identifying asian faces. They also supply half the world. According to IHS Markit, China accounted for nearly half of the global facial recognition business in 2018. https://www.ft.com/content/6f1a8f48-1813-11ea-9ee4-11f260415385 https://www.ft.com/content/6f1a8f48-1813-11ea-9ee4-11f260415...
- futurix 7y ago
  The real issue here is not Caucasian skin tones vs everyone else but instead light skin tones vs dark(er) skin tones. So Chinese government won't have an issue with current facial recognition tech.
SilasX 7y ago
Relatedly, photography itself developed an early bias against black people in terms of what colors/contrasts they optimized film for photographing: https://www.vox.com/2015/9/18/9348821/photography-race-bias https://www.vox.com/2015/9/18/9348821/photography-race-bias
pshc 7y ago
That gets me thinking: in some parallel universe history of the Earth where interior lighting and photography was primarily developed by and for people of color, I bet average indoor lighting would be brighter, and Caucasian skin would often be washed out in CCV.
- tux1968 7y ago
  Right, because people of colour love having overly bright lights blasting into their eyes. Lights aren't set for photography of any skin tone, they're set at a level for comfort and to provide enough light for us to operate.
  - pshc 7y ago
    That’s fair. I was thinking about dimly lit bars.

pbhjpbhj 7y ago

It seems more likely a function of actual contrast in the real World than a function of bias (inadvertent or otherwise)? I imagine it's down to skin tone, or do facial recognition systems really recognise dark skinned "Caucasians" better than light-skinned non-Caucasians.

keanzu 7y ago
Exactly: In the extreme, perfectly black objects have no visible contrast whatsoever as demonstrated by Vantablack. https://www.wired.com/story/vantablack-anish-kapoor-stuart-semple/ https://www.wired.com/story/vantablack-anish-kapoor-stuart-s...

keanzu 7y ago

> faces of non-caucasian individuals The Chinese government, operating the biggest surveillance state on the planet, have had no trouble with the faces of non-caucasian individuals, historically or otherwise. Their facial recognition systems are highly adept at identifying asian faces. They also supply half the world. According to IHS Markit, China accounted for nearly half of the global facial recognition business in 2018. https://www.ft.com/content/6f1a8f48-1813-11ea-9ee4-11f260415385 https://www.ft.com/content/6f1a8f48-1813-11ea-9ee4-11f260415...

futurix 7y ago
The real issue here is not Caucasian skin tones vs everyone else but instead light skin tones vs dark(er) skin tones. So Chinese government won't have an issue with current facial recognition tech.

SilasX 7y ago

Relatedly, photography itself developed an early bias against black people in terms of what colors/contrasts they optimized film for photographing: https://www.vox.com/2015/9/18/9348821/photography-race-bias https://www.vox.com/2015/9/18/9348821/photography-race-bias

pshc 7y ago

That gets me thinking: in some parallel universe history of the Earth where interior lighting and photography was primarily developed by and for people of color, I bet average indoor lighting would be brighter, and Caucasian skin would often be washed out in CCV.

tux1968 7y ago
Right, because people of colour love having overly bright lights blasting into their eyes. Lights aren't set for photography of any skin tone, they're set at a level for comfort and to provide enough light for us to operate.
- pshc 7y ago
  That’s fair. I was thinking about dimly lit bars.