NPR

Can A Machine Tell Whether You Are Gay?

A new study shows that deep neural networks, DNNs, can determine sexual orientation from facial photos with high accuracy. Blogger Alva Noë examines what this might mean — and the potential pitfalls.
Drawing on databases of images collected from an online dating site, a new study conducted at Stanford University concludes that faces carry information about sexual orientation. / a-r-t-i-s-t / Getty Images

Drawing on databases of images collected from an online dating site, a new study conducted at Stanford University concludes that faces carry information about sexual orientation.

This information is not available to visual inspection by ordinary perceivers. But it can be extracted by powerful, pattern-recognizing machines ("deep neural networks" or DNNs).

According to the , which has also been reported , and , a

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