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Google Apologises For Photos App's Racist Blunder

Mark Wilson writes: Google has issued an apology after the automatic tagging feature of its Photos apps labeled a black couple as "gorillas". This is not the first time an algorithm has been found to have caused racial upset. Earlier in the year Flickr came under fire after its system tagged images of concentration camps as sports venues and black people as apes. The company was criticized on social networks after a New York software developer questioned the efficacy of Google's algorithm. Accused of racism, Google said that it was "appalled" by what had happened, branding it as "100% not OK".

4 of 352 comments (clear)

  1. lol by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    truth hurts, dont it?

  2. Re:Accepting Responsibility by narcc · · Score: 1, Troll

    How is this not their fault? They clearly didn't test their software properly. Their software produced completely unacceptable results. They're right to apologize.

    You're admitting bad behavior and bad decisions for something that was good behavior and good decision-making

    Good decisions? Sorry, but releasing poorly tested software like this was obviously a bad decision. The bad outcomes were a direct result of their poor decision making.

    Reasonable people take responsibility for their mistakes. They don't play pretend that "they did everything right" and that their failures were completely beyond their control.

    You sound like the kid who demands a trophy for participation.

  3. Re:I know how this is going to be fixed... by faway · · Score: -1, Troll

    This debacle is just more proof that these people at Google are by no means geniuses. it is a bunch of affluent boys who despite claiming to be super capable have in fact not worked a hard day in their lives.

  4. Re:alogrithms aren't racist by NotInfinitumLabs · · Score: -1, Troll

    It doesn't matter if it was random chance! It doesn't matter if it was a monkey at a typewriter! Labeling a black person as a gorilla is still racist because it reinforces negative stereotypes about black people, no matter the intent!