Twitter Shares Results of Algorithmic Bias Bounty Challenge GA S REGULAR Menu Lifewire Tech for Humans Newsletter! Search Close GO News > Smart & Connected Life

Twitter Shares Results of Algorithmic Bias Bounty Challenge

Turns out, the algorithm had a racial and ageist biases

By Cesar Cadenas Cesar Cadenas Writer California State University - Long Beach Cesar Cadenas has been writing about the tech industry since 2016 on a variety of topics like cryptocurrency, video games, the latest gadgets, and much more. lifewire's editorial guidelines Updated on August 10, 2021 04:32PM EDT Fact checked by Rich Scherr Fact checked by Rich Scherr University of Maryland Baltimore County Rich Scherr is a seasoned technology and financial journalist who spent nearly two decades as the editor of Potomac and Bay Area Tech Wire. lifewire's fact checking process Tweet Share Email Tweet Share Email Smart & Connected Life Mobile Phones Internet & Security Computers & Tablets Smart Life Home Theater & Entertainment Software & Apps Social Media Streaming Gaming Twitter announced the results from its open competition to find biases in its photo cropping system. The bounty challenge opened in July after Twitter users showed that the site’s automated cropping tool favored the faces of people with lighter complexions over those with darker complexions. It raised some questions about how the software prioritized skin color and certain factors over others. Vladimir Vladimirov/Getty Images The challenge sought to find what other bugs and biases the cropping system may have in order to fix the issues. First place went to Bogdan Kulynych, whose submission showed how beauty filters could game the algorithm’s scoring model, which, in turn, amplify traditional beauty standards. The submission showed the algorithm preferred young and slim faces with either a light or warm skin tone. Kulynych won $3,500. Second place went to HALT AI, a tech startup in Toronto, which discovered images of the elderly and the disabled were cropped out of photos. The team was given $2,000 for coming in second. Third place, and $500, went to Roya Pakzad, founder of Taraaz Research, who discovered the algorithm favored cropping Latin scripts over Arabic scripts, which could harm linguistic diversity. Klaus Vedfelt/Getty Images The detailed results were presented at DEF CON 29 by Rumman Chowdhury, the director of Twitter’s META team. The META team studies the unintentional problems in algorithms and weeds out any sort of gender and racial bias such systems may have. The data obtained from this contest will be used to alleviate bugs and bias in the cropping algorithm and help ensure a more inclusive environment. Was this page helpful? Thanks for letting us know! Get the Latest Tech News Delivered Every Day Subscribe Tell us why! Other Not enough details Hard to understand Submit More from Lifewire How a Supreme Court Ruling Could Radically Change the Internet How to Turn off the Twitter Timeline Algorithm Our Commitment to Diversity & Inclusion What Is a Cryptographic Hash Function? The 10 Best Cooking Shows on Netflix (July 2022) What Is a Virus Signature? 10 Tips on How to Make Something Go Viral Online An Overview of the Nagle Algorithm for TCP Network Communication Mobile Technology: AI in Phones How to Rate an App in the Apple App Store Data Mining With K-Means Clustering What Can You Do With the Snapseed App? The 6 Best HDR Camera Apps of 2022 How to Correct Errors in the Photos People Album in iOS 15 Several Techniques for Removing a Date From a Photo How to Use Photoshop Tool Presets Newsletter Sign Up Newsletter Sign Up Newsletter Sign Up Newsletter Sign Up Newsletter Sign Up By clicking “Accept All Cookies”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts. Cookies Settings Accept All Cookies