A.I. Predicting Political Orientation
As technology grows more advanced, advancements in elements such as artificial intelligence organically will follow. New research from the journal American Psychologist has found that AI can predict a person's political orientation based on their face with incredibly accuracy.
In this experiment, A.I. used a facial recognition algorithm called "VGGFace2", and it captured "a numerical "fingerprint" of their faces and compared them to a database of their responses to predict their views" (Norman, 2024). Although this new advancement may seem innocent in a surface level approach, it is quite an invasion of privacy. Politicians and political actors already rely on algorithmic information to target specific individuals to spread their agenda, and this advancements makes it even easier for these individuals to scheme their way into people's feeds and personal lives. As stated by Kosinski, "algorithms can be very easily applied to millions of people very quickly and cheaply," and it puts many people at risk of having more of their personal and intimate details on display (Norman, 2024).
The way I like to think about it is, what's next? If A.I. is able to accurately find out information like this just off of of facial features, what else can it find, and where is that information going to go?
If not regulated, more of our information may be forcibly recovered through the use of A.I. or algorithms, and it is important that people, especially government officials, do not have all of our information at their disposal.
Source:
Norman, G. (2024). AI can predict political orientations from blank faces and researchers fear 'serious' privacy challenges. Fox News. https://www.foxnews.com/politics/ai-can-predict-political-orientations-blank-faces-researchers-fear-serious-privacy-challenges
We always knew that technology was going to take over the world. I dont think we knew it was going to be used to learn our political beliefs and views and give politicians the power to know that information and try to target us. I am amazed that it can know that info based on our face structure. I feel like there is more to it that they arent telling us. Either way it is very scary!
ReplyDeleteYour thoughts on the implications of AI predicting political orientation using facial recognition technology raise legitimate concerns about privacy and the potential misuse of personal data. While advances in AI technology are remarkable, the ability to predict political views based on facial features raises significant ethical and privacy concerns. The possibility of politicians and other actors using this technology to target individuals and manipulate their beliefs is concerning, particularly given the ease and scalability of algorithmic information dissemination. As you correctly point out, the lack of regulation in this area makes people vulnerable to having their personal information exposed and exploited. Policymakers and regulatory bodies must address these concerns and implement strong safeguards to protect individuals' privacy rights as AI capabilities advance.
ReplyDeleteHey Amanda! This is a great post. I think that using AI to enhance algorithms, especially when it comes to personal information, is extremely invasive. Every day our privacy on the internet seems to slip away even more and this is just another example. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeletePeople were worried about immigrants taking their jobs but it was the robots all along! A.I does put some fear into my heart, as helpful as it may be, there are some drawbacks concerning security and our personal information. Not to mention that laws and legislation are needed for this new intelligence. The A.I being able to give out your personal info with an easy facial scan is troubling to say the least, a lot of people would view this as a breach of privacy and rights. I'm sure politicians are already gearing up to use this as a way to gain more voter feedback.
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