New AI gaydar can detect someone’s sexuality with 81 per cent accuracy

By Fatou Ferraro Mboup

Published Aug 17, 2023 at 03:00 PM

Reading time: 2 minutes

48217

We’re currently living in an age that considers robot police dogs and AI-generated girlfriends completely normal. But just when you thought we couldn’t be surprised anymore, a new entry has surfaced in the tech innovation parade: an AI that claims to know your sexual orientation better than you do.

A group of Swiss researchers have officially donned their virtual lab coats and announced with an air of scientific grandeur that they have constructed an AI model capable of deducing whether you’re gay or straight. Yes, you read that right. The research from June 2023 says that electrical brain activity holds the keys to determining someone’s sexual orientation, as their deep learning AI can differentiate between homosexual and heterosexual men with a whopping 83 per cent accuracy rate. Move over human intuition, AI has shown up once again to try and replace our human habits.

This isn’t the first time AI has tried its hand at the unnecessary business of ‘detecting’ sexuality. In 2017, researchers at Stanford University, Michal Kosinski and Yilun Wang, thought they could size up an individual’s sexual orientation based on simply a profile picture.

The AI emerged victorious, showing off an impressive accuracy rate of 81 per cent for men and 74 per cent for women, while the human gaydar lagged behind at a measly 61 per cent for men and 54 per cent for women.

Stereotypes linked to gay men and lesbians frequently manifest under the guise of the ‘gaydar’, a term that’s been used throughout the heterosexual and cisgender-dominated pop culture landscape—and is also seriously misleading and often offensive to members of the LGBTQIA+ community.

Thankfully, not all tech gurus are on board with the new development. Alongside LGBTQIA+ advocates, they have expressed their disapproval of the AI-driven spectacle. Abeba Birhane, a senior fellow in trustworthy AI at non-profit Mozilla, the company behind the web browser Firefox, has outrightly declared that the idea of brains correlating with sexuality is unscientific and absurd.

And let’s not forget the study’s selective exclusion of other sexualities on the queer spectrum. Apparently, for this AI to hit its detection rate of 83 per cent, it needs to keep the playing field unadulterated by the likes of bisexual and pan individuals.

While the researchers behind the problematic application of AI acknowledge the criticism, they remain resolute in their quest for understanding the neurological foundations of sexual orientations. However, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) and GLAAD, two prominent LGBTQIA+ organisations in the US, vehemently criticised the research as “dangerous and flawed. Junk science.”

Critics argue that sexual orientation identification technology could easily morph into a dystopian tool for violating privacy or targeting marginalised LGBTQIA+ communities in regions where their very existence is already criminalised.

The Swiss researchers may tout their work as a step towards dismantling things like conversion therapy, but broader implications remain murky at best. In a world where AI is making strides, we’re reminded that for all its prowess, it still falls short in comprehending and protecting the complex web of human identities.

So, let’s maintain a healthy dose of scepticism, as well as prioritise the safety of these so often marginalised communities, before leaping to artificial intelligence to place labels on people, who more often than not, want to do the labelling themselves.

Keep On Reading

By Alma Fabiani

Boston Children’s Hospital faces threats for providing gender-affirming care to LGBTQ+ youth

By Mason Berlinka

Disney tried to kill Nimona, but Netflix proved that LGBTQIA+ films are here to slay

By Harriet Piercy

Anti LGBTQ politician resigns after being caught at an all male orgy party

By Eliza Frost

Louis Tomlinson opens up about Liam Payne’s death and reflects on One Direction’s 15th anniversary

By Charlie Sawyer

Another female influencer has been punched in the head in New York. Is it the same attacker?

By Eliza Frost

American Eagle and Sydney Sweeney face backlash with employee’s LinkedIn post adding fuel to the fire

By Eliza Frost

UK to lower voting age to 16 by next election. A controversial move, but the right one

By Charlie Sawyer

The #MeToo movement is at risk. How the Harvey Weinstein retrial risks doing unimaginable damage 

By Abby Amoakuh

John Lithgow fumbles JK Rowling question as Harry Potter TV show cast struggles with fan backlash

By Charlie Sawyer

Sabrina Carpenter accused of centering men on controversial album cover

By Fatou Ferraro Mboup

MrBeast hunts for volunteers to test the viral question: who would win between 100 men and one gorilla?

By Eliza Frost

Cruz Beckham’s girlfriend Jackie Apostel defends the couple’s age gap relationship 

By Eliza Frost

Sabrina Carpenter says you need to get out more if you think Man’s Best Friend artwork is controversial 

By Charlie Sawyer

Brooklyn Beckham and Nicola Peltz Beckham hire a lawyer to battle misinformation amid growing family rift

By Eliza Frost

What is Shrekking? The latest toxic dating trend explained 

By Eliza Frost

The Life of a Showgirl or The Life of a Tradwife? Unpicking Taylor Swift’s new album

By Abby Amoakuh

Millie Bobby Brown and husband Jake Bongiovi face backlash for starring in ad promoting Dubai

By Eliza Frost

Jessie Cave was banned from a Harry Potter fan convention because of her OnlyFans account

By Charlie Sawyer

Mexican beauty influencer Valeria Marquez killed during TikTok livestream in alleged femicide

By Eliza Frost

Glen Powell’s GQ photoshoot is a satiric look at modern day males—and he’s in on the joke