时间:2025-07-07 07:11:14 来源:网络整理编辑:時尚
The first look a Twitter user gets at a tweet might be an unintentionally racially biased one.Twitte
The first look a Twitter user gets at a tweet might be an unintentionally racially biased one.
Twitter said Sunday that it would investigate whether the neural network that selects which part of an image to show in a photo preview favors showing the faces of white people over Black people.
The trouble started over the weekend when Twitter users posted several examples of how, in an image featuring a photo of a Black person and a photo of a white person, Twitter's preview of the photo in the timeline more frequently displayed the white person.
Tweet may have been deleted
The public tests got Twitter's attention - and now the company is apparently taking action.
"Our team did test for bias before shipping the model and did not find evidence of racial or gender bias in our testing," Liz Kelly, a member of the Twitter communications team, told Mashable. "But it’s clear from these examples that we’ve got more analysis to do. We're looking into this and will continue to share what we learn and what actions we take."
Twitter's Chief Design Officer Dantley Davis and Chief Technology Officer Parag Agrawal also chimed in on Twitter, saying they're "investigating" the neural network.
Tweet may have been deleted
Tweet may have been deleted
The conversation started when one Twitter user initially posted about racial bias on Zoom's facial detection. He noticed that the side-by-side image of him (a white man) and his Black colleague repeatedly showed his face in previews.
Tweet may have been deleted
After multiple users got in on testing, one user even showed how the favoring of lighter faces was the case with characters from The Simpsons.
Tweet may have been deleted
Twitter's promise to investigate is encouraging, but Twitter users should view the analyses with a grain of salt. It's problematic to claim incidences of bias from a handful of examples. To really assess bias, researchers need a large sample size with multiple examples under a variety of circumstances.
Anything else is making claims of bias by anecdote – something conservatives do to claim anti-conservative bias on social media. These sorts of arguments can be harmful because people can usually find one or two examples of just about anything to prove a point, which undermines the authority of actually rigorous analysis.
That doesn't mean the previews question is not worth looking into, as this could be an example of algorithmic bias: When automated systems reflect the biases of their human makers, or make decisions that have biased implications.
SEE ALSO:People are fighting algorithms for a more just and equitable future. You can, too.In 2018, Twitter published a blog post that explained how it used a neural network to make photo previews decisions. One of the factors that causes the system to select a part of an image is higher contrast levels. This could account for why the system appears to favor white faces. This decision to use contrast as a determining factor might not be intentionally racist, but more frequently displaying white faces than black ones is a biased result.
There's still a question of whether these anecdotal examples reflect a systemic problem. But responding to Twitter sleuths with gratitude and action is a good place to start no matter what.
Tweet may have been deleted
TopicsArtificial IntelligenceTwitter
Ivanka Trump's unpaid interns share cringeworthy financial advice2025-07-07 06:57
Tim Cook will take his Apple Watch secret to the grave2025-07-07 06:23
Arnold Schwarzenegger gleefully photobombs tourists in Paris2025-07-07 06:02
'Deadpool 2' just got upgraded to a summer date in the year of X2025-07-07 05:53
Early Apple2025-07-07 05:50
Tim Cook once scolded Uber's Travis Kalanick into submission2025-07-07 05:23
All the best signs from Climate Marches around the world2025-07-07 05:16
Beer could help ease physical pain, but there's a catch2025-07-07 04:59
Tesla's rumored P100D could make Ludicrous mode even more Ludicrous2025-07-07 04:54
Google Home update allows Assistant to access 5 million new recipes2025-07-07 04:43
PlayStation Now game streaming is coming to PC2025-07-07 07:03
Just when you thought it was over, here's the mermaid frappuccino2025-07-07 06:39
Hands on with Microsoft's $999 Surface Laptop2025-07-07 06:02
Kind strangers keep feeding Mark Zuckerberg2025-07-07 05:57
Satisfy your Olympics withdrawals with Nike's latest app2025-07-07 05:45
Bookshop has hilariously creative idea to bring books to life2025-07-07 05:31
It turns out CPR will bring a drowned lizard back to life. A couple of times.2025-07-07 05:01
I tried an Instagram caption generator and the results were hilarious2025-07-07 04:51
One of the most controversial power struggles in media comes to a close2025-07-07 04:51
Cats have nine lives, but just in case, maybe don't hang out with a snake2025-07-07 04:33