12/03/2018

GOOGLE *FEARFUL* OF BIAS?!


GOOGLE BLOCKS gender based pronouns from new AI tool.

SAN FRANCISCO : Alphabet Inc's Google in May introduced a slick feature for Gmail that automatically completes sentences for users as they type. Tap out ''I love'' and Gmail might propose  ''you'' or ''it''.

But users are out of luck if the object of their affection is ''him'' or ''her''.

Google's technology will not suggest gender-based pronouns because because the risk is too high that its ''Smart Compose'' technology might predict ''someone's sex or gender identity incorrectly and offend users, product leaders revealed to Reuters in interviews Nov 27.

Gmail product manager Paul Lambert said a company research scientist discovered the problem in January when he typed ''I am meeting an investor next week,'' and Smart Compose suggested a possible follow up question : ''Do you want to meet him?'' instead of ''her''.

Consumers have become accustomed to to embarrassing gaffes from autocorrect on smartphones. But Google refused to take chances at a time when gender issues are scrutinizing  potential biases in artificial intelligence like never before.

''Not all 'screw ups' are equal,'' Lambert said. Gender is a ''big, big thing'' to get wrong.

Getting Smart Compose right could be good for business. Demonstrating that Google understands the nuances of  AI  better than competition is part of the company's strategy to build affinity for its brand and attract customers to its AI-powered  cloud computing  tools, advertising services and and hardware.

Gmail has  1.5 billion users, and Lambert said  Smart Compose  assists on 11 percent of messages worldwide sent from Gmail.com, where the feature is first launched

 The honor and serving of the latest Operational; Research on Google, Gmail,  AI and tools continues. [Reuters].

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