5 ms·

Predicting sex from retinal fundus photographs using automated deep learning

37 points by dayve 4y ago

matt3210 4y ago
For a second I thought this was going to be "Prediction that two people in the photo or video frame are going to engage in intercourse" with deep learning. That would be an interesting article though.
- HPMOR 4y ago
  That would be fantastic. Someone should totally build a model to do that!
- gavinray 4y ago
  This is what I also thought -- that an image taken of someone's retina could predict whether they would later engage in sex with the person they were looking at. Someone smarter than me, build the thing, put it on a phone app, and make the next big dating app! No more swiping, just look at the picture for a subconscious second, and let the phone camera + our algorithm swipe for you!
tqi 4y ago
> However, deep learning has shown that these algorithms demonstrate capability in tasks which were not previously thought possible. Harnessing this power, new insights into relationships between retinal structure and systemic pathophysiology could expand existing knowledge of disease mechanisms... Here, the physiologic cause and effect relationships are not readily apparent to domain experts21. Interesting. I'm curious to learn how a black box model help expand existing knowledge of disease mechanisms? It seems to me that doing so would require the ability to determine what the predictive indicators the model is using are.
- hamandcheese 4y ago
  > I'm curious to learn how a black box model help expand existing knowledge of disease mechanisms? Even knowing that there is a predictive indicator is valuable, as it can guide future efforts. Even with no other clues, I suspect that researchers will discover the indicators much faster than they otherwise would merely because it is proven to be possible. Knowing something is possible has a powerful psychological impact.
- naijaboiler 4y ago
  Finding novel relationships gives us news places to look to try to understand how things are. I didn't know you you could tell gender from retina. If indeed we can, that leaves room to then all why is that biologically happening. We don't be the black box AI to explain. If it read a signal there, it's up to use user other methods to figure why that signal exists and what the implications are to our current understanding
  - legostormtroopr 4y ago
    > I didn't know you you could tell gender from retina. This is determining sex from retinal scans - not gender. Thats what makes this interesting, and potentially inflammatory, because it highlights even further subtle physiological differences between the two majority human sexes.
    - EntropyIsAHoax 4y ago
    - bawolff 4y ago
      How do you know? I didn't see anything in the experimental design that would distinguish between detecting sex vs gender. Sex and gender are fairly highly correlated and it doesn't look like they did any analysis to rule out that they weren't actually detecting gender and not sex. Of course that would be a much more surprising result. That said, i don't think subtle physiological differences are really that inflamatory. For example, we already accept that men are more likely to be colour blind and a myrid of other minor differences. Usually these things are only controversial when someone posits a major physiological difference and then mostly because much of the time its someone with an axe to grind significantly overstating the evidence.
interroboink 4y ago
Wow, what a roller-coaster that headline was for me. I read "predicting sex from rectal fungus...", so I was thinking this was somehow going to relate gut bacteria micro-biomes to peoples' sexual activities. Ah no; it's determining a person's sex by looking at their retina. I kinda want to read that other imaginary article now, though...
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- saagarjha 4y ago
  Let the AI do the job for you: Introduction: The human gastrointestinal tract is a complex and dynamic ecosystem, containing a diverse array of microorganisms that play a crucial role in maintaining health and well-being. Recent research has suggested that the composition of the gut microbiome may be associated with a variety of health outcomes, including sexual behavior and preferences. In this study, we sought to investigate whether it is possible to predict an individual's sexual activities from the presence and abundance of rectal fungal species. Methods: We recruited a sample of 100 participants (50 male and 50 female) from a sexually active population, and collected rectal swab samples from each individual. The samples were processed and analyzed using high-throughput DNA sequencing techniques, which allowed us to identify and quantify the abundance of fungal species in each sample. We then used statistical analysis to assess the relationship between the presence and abundance of rectal fungal species and the sexual behaviors and preferences reported by each participant. In particular, we focused on three specific behaviors: frequency of sexual activity, number of sexual partners, and preference for same- or opposite-sex partners. Results: Our analysis revealed a significant association between the presence and abundance of certain rectal fungal species and sexual behavior. In particular, individuals who reported a higher frequency of sexual activity were more likely to harbor greater abundances of the fungal species Candida albicans and Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Similarly, individuals who reported a higher number of sexual partners were more likely to have higher abundances of Candida glabrata and Cryptococcus neoformans. Finally, individuals who reported a preference for same-sex partners were more likely to have higher abundances of Aspergillus niger and Trichophyton mentagrophytes. Discussion: Our findings suggest that the presence and abundance of certain rectal fungal species may be predictive of an individual's sexual behavior and preferences. Further research is needed to confirm these findings and to investigate the potential mechanisms underlying these associations. In particular, it will be important to understand whether the presence of these fungal species directly influences sexual behavior, or whether it is simply a marker for other factors that affect sexual behavior. Conclusion: In conclusion, our study provides preliminary evidence that it may be possible to predict an individual's sexual behavior and preferences from the presence and abundance of rectal fungal species. Further research is needed to confirm and expand upon these findings, and to explore the potential mechanisms underlying these associations.
dioramas 4y ago
- aulin 4y ago
  In this gender-fluid times I foresee something like that would cause quite a bit of controversy. I was surprised to read they used "self-reported sex" for training, not sure how you could predict a biological trait from biological features using a self-reported truth as training label. It works because most of the time genetic sex and self-reported coincide but they list at least one testing error where the model predicted genetic sex and it was different from self-reported one.
- thinkmcfly 4y ago
  An ocular scan just so kids can put different pants on? Christ on a stick this sounds awful. You just described a nightmare scenario
EntropyIsAHoax 4y ago
RamblingCTO 4y ago
Adding to the misread titles, I thought it would predict if you get laid based on your photos and got a bit sad haha.
mrguyorama 4y ago
Is this just like nearly every other AI paper like this where the black box actually learned how to distinguish metadata instead? How were the files named, were the female and male pictures collected using two different instruments that would have different noise distributions etc. 9 times out of 10 this kind of paper just turns out to be "We didn't properly normalize our data and reality slipped through", not anything actually meaningful.
mobilejdral 4y ago
The paper says it both predicts sex, but also says gender. I am guessing what it is actually able to predict is which sex hormone is dominant. For example: If a man with prostate cancer is taking estrogen to suppress T (and hopefully prevent the prostate cancer from growing/spreading) for even six months the colors he will perceive will shift as estrogen is dominant and the cells in his eyes will respond to that change. The paper briefly mentions this: "Others have demonstrated variation of ocular blood flow and have suggested the effect of sex hormones, but thus far, consensus is lacking".
- zosima 4y ago
  Or it's dependent on increased gene expression from dual X-chromosomes or genes from an Y chromosome. Or sex-specific methylation patterns or some other factor, that are irreversible once the organism has grown beyond the fetus-stage. There is way more to sex than just steroid hormones.

37 points by dayve 4y ago

For a second I thought this was going to be "Prediction that two people in the photo or video frame are going to engage in intercourse" with deep learning. That would be an interesting article though.

HPMOR 4y ago
That would be fantastic. Someone should totally build a model to do that!
gavinray 4y ago
This is what I also thought -- that an image taken of someone's retina could predict whether they would later engage in sex with the person they were looking at. Someone smarter than me, build the thing, put it on a phone app, and make the next big dating app! No more swiping, just look at the picture for a subconscious second, and let the phone camera + our algorithm swipe for you!

tqi 4y ago

> However, deep learning has shown that these algorithms demonstrate capability in tasks which were not previously thought possible. Harnessing this power, new insights into relationships between retinal structure and systemic pathophysiology could expand existing knowledge of disease mechanisms... Here, the physiologic cause and effect relationships are not readily apparent to domain experts21. Interesting. I'm curious to learn how a black box model help expand existing knowledge of disease mechanisms? It seems to me that doing so would require the ability to determine what the predictive indicators the model is using are.

hamandcheese 4y ago
> I'm curious to learn how a black box model help expand existing knowledge of disease mechanisms? Even knowing that there is a predictive indicator is valuable, as it can guide future efforts. Even with no other clues, I suspect that researchers will discover the indicators much faster than they otherwise would merely because it is proven to be possible. Knowing something is possible has a powerful psychological impact.
naijaboiler 4y ago
Finding novel relationships gives us news places to look to try to understand how things are. I didn't know you you could tell gender from retina. If indeed we can, that leaves room to then all why is that biologically happening. We don't be the black box AI to explain. If it read a signal there, it's up to use user other methods to figure why that signal exists and what the implications are to our current understanding
- legostormtroopr 4y ago
  > I didn't know you you could tell gender from retina. This is determining sex from retinal scans - not gender. Thats what makes this interesting, and potentially inflammatory, because it highlights even further subtle physiological differences between the two majority human sexes.
  - EntropyIsAHoax 4y ago
  - bawolff 4y ago
    How do you know? I didn't see anything in the experimental design that would distinguish between detecting sex vs gender. Sex and gender are fairly highly correlated and it doesn't look like they did any analysis to rule out that they weren't actually detecting gender and not sex. Of course that would be a much more surprising result. That said, i don't think subtle physiological differences are really that inflamatory. For example, we already accept that men are more likely to be colour blind and a myrid of other minor differences. Usually these things are only controversial when someone posits a major physiological difference and then mostly because much of the time its someone with an axe to grind significantly overstating the evidence.

interroboink 4y ago

Wow, what a roller-coaster that headline was for me. I read "predicting sex from rectal fungus...", so I was thinking this was somehow going to relate gut bacteria micro-biomes to peoples' sexual activities. Ah no; it's determining a person's sex by looking at their retina. I kinda want to read that other imaginary article now, though...

deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
saagarjha 4y ago
Let the AI do the job for you: Introduction: The human gastrointestinal tract is a complex and dynamic ecosystem, containing a diverse array of microorganisms that play a crucial role in maintaining health and well-being. Recent research has suggested that the composition of the gut microbiome may be associated with a variety of health outcomes, including sexual behavior and preferences. In this study, we sought to investigate whether it is possible to predict an individual's sexual activities from the presence and abundance of rectal fungal species. Methods: We recruited a sample of 100 participants (50 male and 50 female) from a sexually active population, and collected rectal swab samples from each individual. The samples were processed and analyzed using high-throughput DNA sequencing techniques, which allowed us to identify and quantify the abundance of fungal species in each sample. We then used statistical analysis to assess the relationship between the presence and abundance of rectal fungal species and the sexual behaviors and preferences reported by each participant. In particular, we focused on three specific behaviors: frequency of sexual activity, number of sexual partners, and preference for same- or opposite-sex partners. Results: Our analysis revealed a significant association between the presence and abundance of certain rectal fungal species and sexual behavior. In particular, individuals who reported a higher frequency of sexual activity were more likely to harbor greater abundances of the fungal species Candida albicans and Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Similarly, individuals who reported a higher number of sexual partners were more likely to have higher abundances of Candida glabrata and Cryptococcus neoformans. Finally, individuals who reported a preference for same-sex partners were more likely to have higher abundances of Aspergillus niger and Trichophyton mentagrophytes. Discussion: Our findings suggest that the presence and abundance of certain rectal fungal species may be predictive of an individual's sexual behavior and preferences. Further research is needed to confirm these findings and to investigate the potential mechanisms underlying these associations. In particular, it will be important to understand whether the presence of these fungal species directly influences sexual behavior, or whether it is simply a marker for other factors that affect sexual behavior. Conclusion: In conclusion, our study provides preliminary evidence that it may be possible to predict an individual's sexual behavior and preferences from the presence and abundance of rectal fungal species. Further research is needed to confirm and expand upon these findings, and to explore the potential mechanisms underlying these associations.

dioramas 4y ago

aulin 4y ago
In this gender-fluid times I foresee something like that would cause quite a bit of controversy. I was surprised to read they used "self-reported sex" for training, not sure how you could predict a biological trait from biological features using a self-reported truth as training label. It works because most of the time genetic sex and self-reported coincide but they list at least one testing error where the model predicted genetic sex and it was different from self-reported one.
thinkmcfly 4y ago
An ocular scan just so kids can put different pants on? Christ on a stick this sounds awful. You just described a nightmare scenario

EntropyIsAHoax 4y ago

RamblingCTO 4y ago

Adding to the misread titles, I thought it would predict if you get laid based on your photos and got a bit sad haha.

mrguyorama 4y ago

Is this just like nearly every other AI paper like this where the black box actually learned how to distinguish metadata instead? How were the files named, were the female and male pictures collected using two different instruments that would have different noise distributions etc. 9 times out of 10 this kind of paper just turns out to be "We didn't properly normalize our data and reality slipped through", not anything actually meaningful.

mobilejdral 4y ago

The paper says it both predicts sex, but also says gender. I am guessing what it is actually able to predict is which sex hormone is dominant. For example: If a man with prostate cancer is taking estrogen to suppress T (and hopefully prevent the prostate cancer from growing/spreading) for even six months the colors he will perceive will shift as estrogen is dominant and the cells in his eyes will respond to that change. The paper briefly mentions this: "Others have demonstrated variation of ocular blood flow and have suggested the effect of sex hormones, but thus far, consensus is lacking".

zosima 4y ago
Or it's dependent on increased gene expression from dual X-chromosomes or genes from an Y chromosome. Or sex-specific methylation patterns or some other factor, that are irreversible once the organism has grown beyond the fetus-stage. There is way more to sex than just steroid hormones.