The video tells the tale – HP MediaSmart computer will not recognize black males

Black Desi

With story from PC Mag – Employees in a computer store discover that HP face recognition software is racist. The camera will follow the face of white Wanda but not her black co-worker Desi.

Seems improbable but the video tells the story and HP is not denying it. “We are working with our partners to learn more,” HP said. “The technology we use is built on standard algorithms that measure the difference in intensity of contrast between the eyes and the upper cheek and nose. We believe that the camera might have difficulty ‘seeing’ contrast in conditions where there is insufficient foreground lighting.”

“Everything we do is focused on ensuring that we provide a high-quality experience for all our customers, who are ethnically diverse and live and work around the world,” HP continued. “That’s why when issues surface, we take them seriously and work hard to understand the root causes.” HP Blog

The face recognition software is supposed to follow your face when you come withing range of the camera. You move left, it moves left. You move back it changes focus.

The only problem is it doesn’t pay any attention if you are not white.

A post on Gearlog says this problem is well known to photographers. “Accusations of racism in this case are as nonsensical as saying it’s discriminatory that blue eyes turn up in flash photos as red much more frequently than darker eyes. Imaging technology is about precision, pixels, resolution, and lighting; not race judgment, thank goodness. Judging still remains a uniquely human trait.” Gearlog

A black face has to be lit properly and the computer trained to understand what the face looks like. OK but it sure got white Wanda easily.