Google said that it is following better measures. “We are working on alternative, inclusive, solutions that can be useful in the development of our products,” the company said.
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Alphabet Inc.’s Google told Reuters this week that it is developing an alternative to an industry-standard method for classifying skin tone that, according to technology researchers and skin experts, is biased against people regarding product color. would be helpful in eliminating it.
Google currently uses a 6-color scale known as the Fitzpatrick Skin Type (FST), which skin experts have used since the 1970s. Tech companies now rely on it to classify people and measure whether products like facial recognition systems or smartwatch heart-rate sensors perform equally well across skin tones.
Emphasis is being laid on abandoning FST
However, critics say that the FST, which includes four categories for “white” skin and one each for “black” and “brown”, ignores the difference between people’s skin colors. Researchers at the US Department of Homeland Security, during a Federal Technology Standards conference last October, recommended dropping the FST for the evaluation of facial recognition because it poorly represents the color range in diverse populations.
In response to Reuters questions about the FST, Google said it was following better measures. The company declined to provide details, saying, “We are working on alternative, inclusive, solutions that may be useful in developing our products and are working with groups working with scientists, medical experts as well as color communities. Will cooperate with you.”
The controversy is part of a larger calculation on racism and diversity in the tech industry, where sectors such as finance have more white people in the workforce. Ensuring that technology works well for people of all skin colours, as well as different ages and genders, the emphasis is now on new products that are powered by AI, including health Used in sensitive and finance sectors such as care and law enforcement.
There are better pallets available than FST
Companies are aware that their products may be faulty for groups that are under-represented in research and testing data. A wide variety of products offer a richer palette than FST. Crayola launched 24 skin tone crayons last year and Mattel Inc’s Barbie Fashionista doll covered nine tones this year.
After Google announced in February that the cameras on some Android phones can measure the pulse rate through fingers, the company said the average reading would be 1.8%, regardless of users’ light or dark skin.
The company later similarly warranted that the skin type would not significantly affect the results of a feature to filter the background on Meet video conferences, nor would the upcoming web tool to identify skin conditions, Which is informally called Derm Assist, will affect. These results came from testing with a 6-tone FST.
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