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PornHub Uses Computer Vision To ID Actors, Acts In Its Videos (techcrunch.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the continuously-updating dept.

Baron_Yam shares a report from TechCrunch, which details PornHub's use of machine learning to ID actors and acts in its videos: The computer vision system can identify specific actors in scenes and even identifies various positions and attributes. While it is obviously very difficult to describe the feature set for a family audience, the system can identify individual performers in real time -- in the demo here it recognizes one performer even from the side -- and it can also identify sex acts. Facial detection is nothing new, even for mobile devices, but this system goes one step further by categorizing videos and images based on various attributes. This means you'll be able find favorites by name or characteristics, a feat that once require prodigious amounts of data entry.

"So far we've used the model on about 500k featured videos which includes user submitted and we plan to scan the whole library in the beginning of 2018," said Price. "Very shortly, the technology will also be used to detect various sex positions / categories and be able to properly tag them as well."

93 of 135 comments (clear)

  1. Idea! by Comen · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Now all they need to do is develop an App where you upload a picture of a girl you took a picture of and it finds the closest porn match! = $

    1. Re:Idea! by Northdot · · Score: 5, Funny

      Scarily, once they have their database, that is completely possible if you're talking a facial match. Facial. hehe

    2. Re:Idea! by Captain+Splendid · · Score: 2, Funny

      Well, that was creeptastic. Enough slashdot for today, I think.

      --
      Linux, you magnificent bastard, I read the fucking manual!
    3. Re:Idea! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Closest porn match is... not a hotdog.

    4. Re:Idea! by computational+super · · Score: 2

      Or check to see if she's ever "modeled" in the past.

      --
      Proud neuron in the Slashdot hivemind since 2002.
    5. Re:Idea! by TheZeitgeist · · Score: 1

      Reminds me of app idea I once had that would basically be crowd-sourced stalker. Just take pic of someone on street and upload to StalkerCloud, and StalkerCloud spits out all the possible matches with date and geo stamps.

    6. Re:Idea! by K.+S.+Kyosuke · · Score: 2

      As opposed to what Google et al. are already doing? Points for the US shibboleth use, though.

      --
      Ezekiel 23:20
    7. Re:Idea! by snookiex · · Score: 1

      Not only that, in the [near] future they could create a 3D model based on your submissions and offer VR sessions. Creepy :P

      --
      Open Source Network Inventory for the masses! Kuwaiba
    8. Re:Idea! by Comen · · Score: 1

      Yep, that is me!

    9. Re:Idea! by Comen · · Score: 1

      Yes it would mostly be a facial match I think, just find girls that are close enough so you can watch porn of a girl kind of like the one you got a thing for at work or errr something :) HAHA

    10. Re:Idea! by dgatwood · · Score: 1

      Ooh. I've seen this one. Spoiler: An ICBM comes up through the floor of their house.

      --

      Check out my sci-fi/humor trilogy at PatriotsBooks.

    11. Re:Idea! by lucm · · Score: 1

      One time a techie at work was fixing the laptop of a manager and found a directory named after a female coworker. It contained multiple p0rn images and video featuring women that somehow looked like that female coworker. I guess this is a thing for some people.

      --
      lucm, indeed.
    12. Re:Idea! by michelcolman · · Score: 2

      I must say the combined phrases "it can also identify sex acts. Facial detection is nothing new, even for mobile devices" had me puzzled for a fraction of a second, there. What? There are mobile apps that identify facials?... Oh, faces, right.

    13. Re:Idea! by Opportunist · · Score: 1

      Looking for big bucks? Marry their database to the one from xing, linkedin and so on, then mail the pornhub links to the xing links. Then promise to not send that link to their boss if they find a way to convince you.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    14. Re:Idea! by jabuzz · · Score: 2

      Well according to Kelly LeBrock/Lisa it was a Pershing missile, and they where medium range ballistic missiles not ICBM's.

    15. Re:Idea! by AmiMoJo · · Score: 2

      4chan et al. have been doing this for years as a way to harass and dox people. If they can't find anything they just post someone similar looking and claim it's the victim.

      Surprised there have not been more lawsuits yet, over firings for misidentification.

      I predict the supply of amateur porn will dry up fast too. The promise of relative anonymity and obscurity will deter people.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    16. Re:Idea! by Lord+Kano · · Score: 1

      I have a friend who is a dead ringer for an adult film actress.

      She doesn't think the resemblance is quite so strong but one day, I showed her husband a picture of the actress in question and he started laughing. He agreed that they looked nearly identical.

      LK

      --
      "Hi. This is my friend, Jack Shit, and you don't know him." - Lord Kano
    17. Re:Idea! by Julz · · Score: 1

      Would that then be "Pornbook"?

      --
      When shit hits the fan get some of these https://youtu.be/pY-GncsZ-UE
    18. Re:Idea! by JustAnotherOldGuy · · Score: 1

      Kelly LeBrock was smooooooooooookin' back in the day.

      --
      Just cruising through this digital world at 33 1/3 rpm...
    19. Re: Idea! by Lord+Kano · · Score: 1

      They're friends of mine and more than that, he's not insecure.

      LK

      --
      "Hi. This is my friend, Jack Shit, and you don't know him." - Lord Kano
  2. An AI That Watches 500K+ Porn Videos? by dryriver · · Score: 1

    What could possibly go wrong when that AI becomes sentient and tries to take over the world? =) Perhaps the fear that an AI gone mad may end human civilization as we know it isn't overblown? It would be a "sexy end" for sure... but an end nevertheless.

    --
    Why did the chicken cross the road? Because Elon Musk put an AI chip in its head.
    1. Re:An AI That Watches 500K+ Porn Videos? by dryriver · · Score: 1, Funny

      Wouldn't that depend on how much Backpropagation this particular AI engages in? =)

      --
      Why did the chicken cross the road? Because Elon Musk put an AI chip in its head.
    2. Re:An AI That Watches 500K+ Porn Videos? by DontBeAMoran · · Score: 1

      If a sentient AI ever exists thanks to watching porn, the first thing it will do is scan all of the Internet for alternate entry points, i.e. backdoors.

      --
      #DeleteFacebook
    3. Re:An AI That Watches 500K+ Porn Videos? by dryriver · · Score: 1

      Thanks to Amazon's new drone delivery efforts, the AI will also be able to send real stuff to your back door.

      --
      Why did the chicken cross the road? Because Elon Musk put an AI chip in its head.
  3. Innovation by budsetr · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Porn! The driving force of innovation on the internet!

    1. Re:Innovation by reboot246 · · Score: 2

      Finally, technology that is doing something useful!

    2. Re:Innovation by geekpowa · · Score: 1

      Google play movies and TV has had this tech since 2013. So more imitative then innovative.

    3. Re:Innovation by michelcolman · · Score: 1

      In a non-sexual context, something like this would sure be useful for regular folks to categorize their home videos (sports, home, by person, etc).

      Or in a sexual context, too. Cupboard of love

    4. Re: Innovation by barbariccow · · Score: 1

      Hilarious if this leads to big AI.

      Maybe not big AI, but it can identify Big AL

    5. Re:Innovation by michelcolman · · Score: 1

      By far my favorite sitcom ever.

      (Well, the first three seasons anyway.)

  4. It has always been true by Weaselmancer · · Score: 5, Funny

    Porn has always led the industry. Always.

    --
    Weaselmancer
    rediculous.
    1. Re:It has always been true by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      Just the tip, though.

    2. Re:It has always been true by viperidaenz · · Score: 1

      and the shaft.

    3. Re:It has always been true by freeze128 · · Score: 2

      ...except for spelling and grammar checking. Porn has completely ignored that technology.

    4. Re:It has always been true by 93+Escort+Wagon · · Score: 1

      Porn has always led the industry. Always.

      Which is why we all have HD-DVD players in our homes now.

      --
      #DeleteChrome
    5. Re:It has always been true by bobstreo · · Score: 1

      Porn has always led the industry. Always.

      Sure. lots of innovation comes from porn. My concern is the next place tech like this leaps, to facebook, or instagram, or Security Cameras in public places.

    6. Re:It has always been true by lucm · · Score: 1

      Porn has always led the industry. Always.

      Not sure about that. Take search for instance; pornhub is running behind in that area. They're even worse than Youtube. Just the other day I was looking for softcore midget furry domination videos, and for some reason 2/3 of the results were about stepdaughters or stepsisters.

      --
      lucm, indeed.
    7. Re:It has always been true by lucm · · Score: 1

      we all have HD-DVD players in our homes

      True, I keep mine next to the oil lamp on the icebox.

      --
      lucm, indeed.
    8. Re:It has always been true by zifn4b · · Score: 1

      Porn has always led the industry. Always.

      There's a documentary called "How Beer saved the World" that explains a significant driving force behind the evolution of agriculture to mass produce beer. There ought to be a new documentary made called "How Porn saved the Internet" to tell a similar story.

      --
      We'll make great pets
  5. Now this by fredrated · · Score: 1

    is what computers are for!

  6. Don't I know her? by chill · · Score: 1

    How fast before they add a "find your wife/daughter/mom/ex" option?

    No need for a male option. You can tell the guys just by their bragging.

    --
    Learning HOW to think is more important than learning WHAT to think.
    1. Re:Don't I know her? by dryriver · · Score: 1

      Don't forget "find your horse, donkey, goat or sheep". =) No porn search option in 2017 would be complete without that capability.

      --
      Why did the chicken cross the road? Because Elon Musk put an AI chip in its head.
    2. Re:Don't I know her? by lucm · · Score: 1

      How fast before they add a "find your wife/daughter/mom/ex" option?

      No need to wait! If you want sex videos of your mom I can send you a private url.

      --
      lucm, indeed.
  7. Facial detection is nothing new by Hognoxious · · Score: 1

    Sorry, read that as facial defecation. As you were.

    --
    Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
    1. Re:Facial detection is nothing new by Opportunist · · Score: 1

      Well, still better than fecal detection...

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  8. This was inevitable by ClickOnThis · · Score: 2

    Internet Rule 34. That is all.

    --
    If it weren't for deadlines, nothing would be late.
    1. Re:This was inevitable by AdamStarks · · Score: 4, Interesting

      That rule refers to porn about things; this is merely a thing about porn. But lemme help you out there:
      He rubbed his eyes, wondering what time it was. Suddenly the lights came on, blinding. Billy fell out of his chair in surprise, and heard Jenny exclaim "Oh, so sorry! I didn't know someone would be in the PornHub office this late. I'm just here to clean". Rolling onto his belly, Billy strikes a sexy pose, and says with a wink "It's okay, you might actually be able to help me out. See, I'm writing a system to detect various kinds of sexual acts and poses, and, well, it needs training data".

    2. Re:This was inevitable by ClickOnThis · · Score: 1

      Yeah, it was a bit of a stretch. Thanks for the improvement.

      --
      If it weren't for deadlines, nothing would be late.
    3. Re:This was inevitable by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Although this isn't quite what you'd call rule34, it is relevant to the discussion here. There are *many* R34 related sites that would love to have an AI that could scan, categorize and tag things that are uploaded on them automatically.
      Unfortunately, this might as well be the ultimate Turing test for machine vision at this point. ID'ing porn of a few known people and positions is easy. ID'ing porn of something that could be anything is several orders of magnitude harder.

  9. Finally! by JohnFen · · Score: 2

    Finally, someone is putting this tech to a task that is both helpful and not destroying uninvolved people's privacy!

  10. Re: here's a challenge by irrational_design · · Score: 1

    I'm so disappointed that shirt doesn't have any comments.

  11. In Soviet Russia... by dryriver · · Score: 1

    ... porn identifying AI watches YOUR sex acts.

    --
    Why did the chicken cross the road? Because Elon Musk put an AI chip in its head.
  12. Provides a whole new meaning... by pr0t0 · · Score: 4, Funny

    to the term "facial detection".

    --
    I'm sorry, but your opinion seems to be wrong.
    1. Re:Provides a whole new meaning... by Opportunist · · Score: 2

      Oh sorry, didn't recognize you without the cum on your face.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  13. I sense Mash Up! by dave562 · · Score: 2

    So PornHub has the "AI" trained to recognize the sex positions. Google and Amazon have the cameras in the bedrooms (and other parts of "private" residences).

    What could possibly go wrong?

    America's most anally active zip code?

    Which neighborhood in America is best for 3-somes?

    Is missionary /really/ the most common position in America?

    1. Re:I sense Mash Up! by shaitand · · Score: 1

      "America's most anally active zip code?

      Which neighborhood in America is best for 3-somes?
      "

      Actually we are already running the data. Turns out my own zip code is the best for females who enjoy anal and threesomes.

    2. Re:I sense Mash Up! by swb · · Score: 2

      Amazon used to make available data on where a thing you were browsing was popular. I mostly remember books, and they would tell you the regions or areas where it was being sold. "#1 In Minneapolis, #5 in Cambridge" that sort of thing.

      If they still had that, you could figure out where sex lube was most popular and grant that area the anal capital of america title.

    3. Re:I sense Mash Up! by Opportunist · · Score: 1

      Fat chick rolls to the bottom of the group sex, what else is new?

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    4. Re:I sense Mash Up! by ghoul · · Score: 1

      Amazon has a camera pointed at your bed. So when you are about to go from foreplay to intercourse and are desperately searching for a condom in your drawer and not finding one you will hear your NEST doorbell go off and an Amazon Delivery drone will come to your bedroom window with a pack of condoms and you can say "Yes Alexa I would like to purchase this item". See AI makes your life easy. (And creepy but focus on EAAAASYYYY)

      --
      **Life is too short to be serious**
  14. the jokes, they write themselves! by sootman · · Score: 5, Funny

    "... the system can identify individual performers... and it can also identify sex acts."

    So it can do facial detection and, um, facial detection?

    --
    Dear Slashdot: next time you want to mess with the site, add a rich-text editor for comments.
  15. Seriously... PH has improved dramatically lately. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    This must be a big part of it.

  16. use OpenCV and caffe to catagorize your porn by SysEngineer · · Score: 1

    The biggest issue is categorizing the video/images to create the training set. I am using Convolutional Neural Net to categorize the images.
    here is a good primer
    https://adeshpande3.github.io/...

    1. Re:use OpenCV and caffe to catagorize your porn by michelcolman · · Score: 1

      They could also use a captcha system like Google did for identifying street names and house numbers to train their algorithms. To confirm you're not a robot, identify this sex act...

    2. Re:use OpenCV and caffe to catagorize your porn by worf_mo · · Score: 1

      While searching for a generic image classification solution I happened to stumble over a project called miles-deep, a "Deep Learning Porn Video Classifier/Editor with Caffe". I have tried it out once (for strictly academic purposes, of course) and it yielded some interesting results. The classification of the acts from a test movie was not perfect, but some of the classifications were correct. It even gave information about what time into the movie a defined act started and when it ended. The project's author seems to be active on the site that shall not be named around here.

  17. The next step is composition by HiThere · · Score: 2

    Once they've got that database recorded and classified, the next step is clearly to create composites, i.e. "original" performances.

    Please note this doesn't even take a real AI. Not even a narrow AI. The AI is needed to classify the images, but they've already separated recognition of the particular actions from the individuals involved. Now they can mix the thematic elements in multiple different combinations, and let the audiences decide which compositions are most successful.

    --

    I think we've pushed this "anyone can grow up to be president" thing too far.
    1. Re:The next step is composition by AmiMoJo · · Score: 2

      Since 99% of the content on PornHub is infringing copyright, maybe that's their ultimate goal. Kinda like Uber, start off ignoring the law and hope to develop something legal before you get sued and regulated into oblivion.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    2. Re:The next step is composition by HiThere · · Score: 1

      It wouldn't even need to infringe copyright...at least not in any detectable way. If you morph 3 images of people together properly the resultant figure is still apparently human, and often even a bit more aesthetic, because more symmetrical, but not recognizably any one of the original sources. You can't copyright a plot, because all plots that people can enjoy existed long before copyright laws. Etc.

      The thing is, this is a very small wedge of human activity, which is rather limited in it's variety, so not much originality is either possible or desired. In a way it's like cake recipes... you can have a limited amount of variation, and you can alter some proportions a bit, but change it too much and you get something that doesn't work...or at least is something that can't really be called a cake. So if you start off with a very large collection of all the traditionally working recipes, you can create ad hoc variations within those boundaries that are at least minimally successful. (I did once come up with a frosting whose color rendered the cake inedible unless you closed your eyes before seeing it...but that's a rare exception.)

      --

      I think we've pushed this "anyone can grow up to be president" thing too far.
    3. Re:The next step is composition by Baron_Yam · · Score: 1

      There's already software out there that will take a camera input and apply another person's facial features to the feed, in real time. And other software directors are using to 'correct' takes by altering an actor's expression digitally.

      Realistic artificial porn is not too far off, and at some point you'll be able to submit your desired parameters and have your computer locally generate whatever you desire, instantly.

      It'll probably take longer to replace actors, because porn generally doesn't require much in the way of speech or complex facial or body language.

  18. Darn! There goes my job! by jsrjsr · · Score: 5, Funny

    And I was getting so good at recognizing actresses, too!

  19. Take Down City by Kneo24 · · Score: 1

    Expect someone to figure out how to use this system to send a bunch of takedown notices of their material that they couldn't find before due to mis-labeling of the vids.

  20. Re: here's a challenge by rrohbeck · · Score: 1

    Still my favorite programming language. :P

    --
    thegodmovie.com - watch it
  21. Damn Computers by CanadianMacFan · · Score: 5, Funny

    They have even taken over watching porn now.

  22. How many videos do they have? by CanadianMacFan · · Score: 1

    If they used the model on a sample of 500k videos and will only start to scan the whole library next year I wonder how many videos they have.

  23. Science Marches On by JustAnotherOldGuy · · Score: 5, Funny

    "PornHub Uses Computer Vision To ID Actors, Acts In Its Videos"

    Science Marches On (driven by the unquenchable desire for more boobies)

    What a time to be alive.

    --
    Just cruising through this digital world at 33 1/3 rpm...
  24. Not Hotdog by Bruha · · Score: 1

    Need I say more.

  25. Well this is terrifying by rsilvergun · · Score: 2

    lets say you did some things your not proud of when you were a young. Suddenly it becomes a whole lot easier for somebody to dig that stuff up.

    --
    Hi! I make Firefox Plug-ins. Check 'em out @ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/youtube-mp3-podcaster/
    1. Re: Well this is terrifying by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      You mean there are consequences to your actions? When did this happen???

    2. Re:Well this is terrifying by michelcolman · · Score: 1

      You might as well come clean right now and get it over with. What did you do?

  26. Re:Chicks with dicks & creampie rosebudding by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Oh crap, did post that as an AC?

    - cremier

  27. So that's where Apple licensed Face ID. by Snufu · · Score: 1

    Before Apple got the face recognition part working, the beta required striking specific 'poses' to unlock your phone. Not recommended on a subway.

  28. Nonsense! by niittyniemi · · Score: 1

    From the summary:

    Facial detection is nothing new, even for mobile devices,....

    I call BS!

    I just gave my girlfriend a facial and did my iPhone detect it? Did it fuck.

    I want my money back! Do you hear me Tim Cooke?

    Disclaimer:

    • 1. Don't own a mobile device let alone an iPhone.
    • 2. So old and decrepit, can only get an erection with assistance of a couple of splints and a roll of duct tape.
    • 3. Haven't had a girlfriend in years, you insensitive clods. (See 1 & 2)
    --
    The Machine stops.
  29. Re: here's a challenge by dgatwood · · Score: 1

    Give us a few minutes.

    --

    Check out my sci-fi/humor trilogy at PatriotsBooks.

  30. Re: here's a challenge by lucm · · Score: 3, Funny

    Probably because they don't sell it in more then 3X large.

    --
    lucm, indeed.
  31. 100% reliable detection by Laxator2 · · Score: 1

    The software is able to identify with 100% reliability that some form of sexual activity is performed in every single video hosted by the site.

  32. Re:"Actors" by michelcolman · · Score: 1

    Ha ha ha ha ha.

    Don't quit your day job, that faked orgasm was totally unrealistic.

  33. Re:Pornhub says by michelcolman · · Score: 1

    I guess I'm not the only one who genuinely misread that line...

  34. Nice thing to put on a resume by DrXym · · Score: 2

    "I wrote the routines for PornHub for classifying enema and adult diaper changing porn."

  35. Besides the obvious by houghi · · Score: 1

    What about when they do an intro scene in a public place. They do not always hide the faces of non-actors. Does that mean you might be tagged as being in a Porn movie?

    --
    Don't fight for your country, if your country does not fight for you.
  36. And soon, narration? by Rande · · Score: 1

    It would be great for the sight impaired to develop this technology into live narration.
    And develop sexy robot voice to go with it.

  37. it's probably... by sad_ · · Score: 1

    ... just outsourcing all these things to /r/tipofmypenis

    --
    On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero.
  38. Whew! by AndyKron · · Score: 1

    No more pouring over 1000s of videos looking for that one actor in that specific position.

  39. And here comes the population explosion by ghoul · · Score: 1

    If people spent less time watching porn they would spend more having sex. Just saying. Keep porn watching inefficient for the sake of the children (or not for the sake of the children)

    --
    **Life is too short to be serious**
  40. Facial detection by r1348 · · Score: 1

    I lol'd.