Incident 53: Biased Google Image Results
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On Jun 6, 2016, 18 year-old Kabir Alli pointed out how Google image searches of "three black teenagers" versus "three white teenagers" differ, with the former presenting results mostly consisting of mugshots and the latter mostly consisting harmless, smiling stock pictures. Reactions on social media suggested that Google's algorithms presented racial bias.
Short Description
On June 6, 2016, Google image searches of "three black teenagers" resulted in mostly mugshot images whereas Google image searchers of "three white teenagers" consisted of mostly stock images, suggesting a racial bias in Google's algorithm.
Severity
Minor
Harm Distribution Basis
Race
Harm Type
Harm to social or political systems
AI System Description
Google Images is a search engine system that generates results based on machine learning and user input and data such as the popularity of the image, how frequently it is shared, context such as text around the image, and meta-tagging.
System Developer
Sector of Deployment
Information and communication
Relevant AI functions
Perception, Cognition, Action
AI Techniques
open-source, machine learning
AI Applications
image classification, search engine, content filtering
Location
Global
Named Entities
Technology Purveyor
Beginning Date
2016-06-06T07:00:00.000Z
Ending Date
2016-06-06T07:00:00.000Z
Near Miss
Unclear/unknown
Intent
Accident
Lives Lost
No
Data Inputs
user input, images
Incident Reports
Reports Timeline
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On occasion, I ask my university students to follow me through a day in the life of an AfricanAmerican aunt, mother, mentor, or friend who is trying to help young women learn to use the Internet. In this exercise, I ask what kind of things …
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What is the difference between the image search results when a person types “Three Black Teenagers” into google and then types “Three White Teenagers”?
Some people found the results disturbing and some people are calling google racist; Watc…
- View the original report at its source
- View the report at the Internet Archive
On Monday, Twitter user @iBeKabir learned that searching the phrase "three black teenagers" on Google images yields almost exclusively mugshots of black teens.
Curious, @iBeKabir says, "Let's just change the color" and swaps out "black" for…
- View the original report at its source
- View the report at the Internet Archive
On Monday, Twitter user @iBeKabir learned that searching the phrase "three black teenagers" on Google images yields almost exclusively mugshots of black teens.
Curious, @iBeKabir says, "Let's just change the color" and swaps out "black" for…
- View the original report at its source
- View the report at the Internet Archive
A video shows image search results where the only difference in the search is "white" versus "black". In the first case stock photography is returned, while in the second, mugshots are returned.
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A man compared the results for Googling ‘Three black teenagers’ and ‘Three white teenagers’ – and the results have ignited debate…
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A Google image search is going viral on Twitter as it’s said to highlight the pervasiveness of racial bias and media profiling.
A dude named Kabir Alli posted this clip on Twitter of himself carrying out a simple search of ‘three black teen…
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- View the report at the Internet Archive
Image copyright Google images
What happens when you type: "Three black teenagers" into a Google image search?
Twitter user @ibekabir reposted a video showing someone doing just that, and thousands of social media users responded - because m…
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- View the report at the Internet Archive
When one searches a stock photo website like Shutterstock for “three black teenagers,” photos like the one above of three cute black teenagers by a photographer dubbed “Logo Boom” show up. Perhaps Google Images should take notes from the st…
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Google image search 'three black teenagers' and then 'three white teenagers'.
A Twitter video of a man typing in this supposedly unremarkable search has gone massively viral since it was uploaded yesterday afternoon.
That's because his clip…
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This week Twitter user Kabir Alli posted a video of him carrying out two specific searches on Google. The search for “three white teenagers” produced smiling and happy generic images of white teenagers, while the search for “three black tee…
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- View the report at the Internet Archive
What you need to know about AMI, the company Jeff Bezos says tried to blackmail him
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A Google Image search which reveals starkly different results for 'three black teenagers' and 'three white teenagers' has sparked anger on social media.
'Three black teenagers' was trending on Twitter this week after 18-year-old Kabir Alli …
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- View the report at the Internet Archive
The short answer to why Google's algorithm returns racist results is that society is racist. But let's start with a lil' story.
On June 6 (that's Monday, for those of you keeping track at home) Kabir Alli, an 18-year old in Virginia, posted…
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If you searched for “three white teenagers” on Google Images earlier this month, the result spat up shiny, happy people in droves — an R.E.M. song in JPG format. The images, mostly stock photos, displayed young Caucasian men and women laugh…
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And just to make sure it’s not some sort of algorithmic Google search that only this guy is seeing:
Screen Shot 2016-06-08 at 11.00.47 AM
Screen Shot 2016-06-08 at 11.01.15 AM
Okay I’m sorry but those three dudes in the white teenagers pic …
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The internet might seem like a level playing field, but it isn’t. Safiya Umoja Noble came face to face with that fact one day when she used Google’s search engine to look for subjects her nieces might find interesting. She entered the term …
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Gregory Bush is arraigned on two counts of murder and 10 counts of wanton endangerment Thursday, Oct. 25, 2018, in Louisville, Ky. Bush fatally shot two African-American customers at a Kroger grocery store Wednesday and was swiftly arrested…
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