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posted by janrinok on Thursday May 19 2022, @09:02AM   Printer-friendly
from the pokerface dept.

The site Tanya Goodin tells us that Zoom might soon monitor your emotions:

Imagine being on a Zoom call and the person [at]sic the other end is getting real-time messages from an artificial intelligence (AI) that's analysing your face and indicating when you're bored, annoyed, or even lying. A creepy prospect, but one that sounds slightly far-fetched?

Well, no, this 'emotion AI' is something Zoom is considering building into their product right now, with research currently underway on how they can do that.

Human rights organizations are not happy about it:

More than 25 human and digital rights organisations including the American Civil Liberties Union, Electronic Privacy Information Center and Fight for the Future have sent a letter to Zoom demanding the company end their plans to incorporate these emotion AI features into their software.

"This software is discriminatory, manipulative, potentially dangerous and based on assumptions that all people use the same facial expressions, voice patterns, and body language," wrote the groups in the letter sent on Wednesday to Eric Yuan, founder and CEO of Zoom.

But the technology is not restricted to Zoom:

AI-based features for assessing people's emotional states are already showing up in remote classroom platforms like Intel's 'Class' and will be mandatory in new EU vehicles from 2022 to detect driver distraction, signs of drunkenness and road rage. Like it or not these technologies are coming – many of them are here already.

So next time you are facing any camera, better control your facial expression well.


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  • (Score: 5, Insightful) by pkrasimirov on Thursday May 19 2022, @09:40AM

    by pkrasimirov (3358) Subscriber Badge on Thursday May 19 2022, @09:40AM (#1246196)

    You install a plugin to tell instead of me what I think or feel.

    I install a plugin to tell your plugin what I want you to know.

    I feel if these things become a norm GDPR is going to get ammended.

  • (Score: 5, Insightful) by Rosco P. Coltrane on Thursday May 19 2022, @10:28AM (7 children)

    by Rosco P. Coltrane (4757) on Thursday May 19 2022, @10:28AM (#1246200)

    Turn the camera off. Or, if very paranoid, stick a piece of tape over the lens.

    If they require the camera turned on, wear dark glasses and a balaclava.

    If they require the dark glasses and balaclava off, wear heavy makeup and learn how to play power, so no emotions show through. By that time you already live in a dystopia though, so you might as well go primitive and cut yourself off the internet altogether. I know I will.

    • (Score: 2) by Rosco P. Coltrane on Thursday May 19 2022, @10:30AM

      by Rosco P. Coltrane (4757) on Thursday May 19 2022, @10:30AM (#1246201)

      s/power/poker

    • (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 19 2022, @11:55AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 19 2022, @11:55AM (#1246222)

      Or some software that sits in between the camera and the zoom software. The software that randomly degrades the quality of the image (makes it a bit more blurry sometimes, adds noise and such).

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 19 2022, @01:40PM (1 child)

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 19 2022, @01:40PM (#1246237)

      A new use for leftover N95s?

      • (Score: 3, Touché) by kazzie on Friday May 20 2022, @05:00AM

        by kazzie (5309) Subscriber Badge on Friday May 20 2022, @05:00AM (#1246504)

        Somehow, over two years into this, I still managed to read "N95s" and think of Nokia phones...

    • (Score: 3, Funny) by DannyB on Thursday May 19 2022, @02:39PM (1 child)

      by DannyB (5839) Subscriber Badge on Thursday May 19 2022, @02:39PM (#1246258) Journal

      A much more gooder simple solution exists. No applications should have this emotion tracking software. That capability should be moved into the operating system as a service to all applications that need it.

      There would be one common implementation rather than many different ones. It could be updated as securely as other OS upgrades are done. It would have the same level of transparency in its operation as other spying features of the OS and/or Intel Management Engine.

      --
      People today are educated enough to repeat what they are taught but not to question what they are taught.
      • (Score: 2) by Reziac on Friday May 20 2022, @03:26AM

        by Reziac (2489) on Friday May 20 2022, @03:26AM (#1246480) Homepage

        +1 Ouch

        --
        And there is no Alkibiades to come back and save us from ourselves.
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 20 2022, @09:32AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 20 2022, @09:32AM (#1246530)

      If they require the camera turned on, wear dark glasses and a balaclava.

      My half-asleep face is enough.
      Not my fault that the team is spread over 4 timezones and all the Zoom-s I have are either when I start sipping from my first coffee of the day or I'm 2h after the COB. On the plus side, I can take whatever nap I need during my working day - WFH is wonderful.

  • (Score: 3, Informative) by PiMuNu on Thursday May 19 2022, @10:44AM

    by PiMuNu (3823) on Thursday May 19 2022, @10:44AM (#1246202)

    Clearly it's BS marketing.

    Artificial Stupidity

  • (Score: 2) by inertnet on Thursday May 19 2022, @10:54AM

    by inertnet (4071) on Thursday May 19 2022, @10:54AM (#1246203) Journal

    This kid [twitter.com] got it right when he changed his name to "Reconnecting...".

  • (Score: 3, Interesting) by Mojibake Tengu on Thursday May 19 2022, @10:58AM

    by Mojibake Tengu (8598) on Thursday May 19 2022, @10:58AM (#1246204) Journal

    Become a Martial Artist or Spirit Master.

    No emotions detectable except those you wish to express consciously.
    Scare people to death with cool phrasing or silence.

    Did you know hypnosis works perfectly over the camera sessions, even collectively?

    --
    Respect Authorities. Know your social status. Woke responsibly.
  • (Score: 4, Interesting) by Thexalon on Thursday May 19 2022, @11:39AM (3 children)

    by Thexalon (636) on Thursday May 19 2022, @11:39AM (#1246219)

    Futurama demonstrates it well [youtube.com]
    Morbo: "Morbo demands an answer to the following question. If you saw a delicious candy in the hands of a small child. Would you seize and consume it?"
    John Jackson: "Unthinkable."
    Jack Johnson: "I wouldn't think of it."
    Morbo: "What about you Mr. Nixon? I remind you. You are under of a truth-o-scope."
    Nixon: "Question is vague. You don't say what kind of candy and whether anyone is watching. In anyway I certainly wouldn't harm the child."

    In all seriousness, imagine watching presidential debates with a giant flashing "Bullshit" every time they're lying. It would make it a lot more entertaining at the very least.

    --
    The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
    • (Score: 2) by FatPhil on Thursday May 19 2022, @11:47AM

      by FatPhil (863) <pc-soylentNO@SPAMasdf.fi> on Thursday May 19 2022, @11:47AM (#1246220) Homepage
      Great for the bulb and fuse industry too.
      --
      Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
    • (Score: 3, Funny) by pkrasimirov on Thursday May 19 2022, @01:12PM (1 child)

      by pkrasimirov (3358) Subscriber Badge on Thursday May 19 2022, @01:12PM (#1246231)

      > giant flashing "Bullshit" every time they're lying
      Epilepsy trigger warning would be needed.

      • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 19 2022, @03:06PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 19 2022, @03:06PM (#1246271)

        It would certainly trigger politicians.

  • (Score: 3, Interesting) by Immerman on Thursday May 19 2022, @05:06PM (1 child)

    by Immerman (3985) on Thursday May 19 2022, @05:06PM (#1246324)

    I'm not seeing the creepy. Or the point.

    I mean, if you're in a video call with someone they can already assess your mood, attention, etc. extremely well without even thinking about it. At least assuming they're paying attention and aren't well into the autism spectrum.

    Thanks to mirror neurons a large portion of our brains are wired up to be able to simulate other minds and assess their state based on observable cues - it's generally credited with being one of our most important adaptations toward being able to develop complex social structures.

    I really only see a few uses for this, mostly benevolent.
    The good:
    - Helping the autistic better understand their peers during a conversation
    - Helping the merely socially stunted train their ability to read other people's emotional state up to a more competent level
    - Helping lecturers and the like consciously recognize when they're doing something wrong/right to maintain audience engagement

    The bad:
    - Helping narcissistic bosses judge which peons in a large meeting are insufficiently obsequious with their attention

    The creepy:
    - Helping authorities, etc. judge which people in a large meeting are not sufficiently "on board" with, and might present a threat to, their goals.

    The kinda creepy but mostly pointless:
    - Helping con-men and rabble-rousers better judge the effectiveness of their spiel on an individual level, rather than relying on just reading the crowd as a whole.
    Mostly pointless because they still have to tailor their spiel to the crowd, rather than individuals, and they wouldn't have gone into the field if they weren't already good at reading and playing a crowd.
    Creepy mostly because it could be used in situations like political benefits where knowing exactly who disagreed with/didn't care about what on an individual level would let them better tailor their con to individuals individuals in later one-on-one engagements. But again, con artists mostly rise to prominence specifically because they're good at reading people and tuning their lies to fit each individual's reactions - so it's really more of a modest efficiency improvement.

    • (Score: 3, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 19 2022, @08:08PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 19 2022, @08:08PM (#1246374)

      First you say there's no creepy or point, then outline in gory detail how it's creepy and what the point is.

      You're a master class in cognitive dissonance!

  • (Score: 4, Interesting) by PinkyGigglebrain on Thursday May 19 2022, @05:52PM (2 children)

    by PinkyGigglebrain (4458) on Thursday May 19 2022, @05:52PM (#1246329)

    we need an app that will take the feed from the camera and generates a virtual image of it in realtime that still looks like you but has all the little bits of body language like raised eyebrows, eye-rolls, frowns, sneers, etc. that Zooms AI will look for removed and feeds this 'sanitized' video stream into the camera feed for software like Zoom. It should still show your lips moving and other movements that show you didn't just put a portrait in front of the camera but other than it only shows a perfect poker face to everyone watching.

    I would offer to create it but I am not a good enough programmer to do it.

    If anyone else does pick up and run with this I only ask to be credited for the original concept.

    --
    "Beware those who would deny you Knowledge, For in their hearts they dream themselves your Master."
    • (Score: 2) by Reziac on Friday May 20 2022, @03:30AM

      by Reziac (2489) on Friday May 20 2022, @03:30AM (#1246481) Homepage

      Excellent idea. (Sadly, I R not a programmer at all.)

      I think one could adapt that "deep fake" software (I don't recall the name) for the purpose. Use it to run your face through some random face and back (sort of like Google Translate, only for images) to subtly distort everything.

      --
      And there is no Alkibiades to come back and save us from ourselves.
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 20 2022, @05:26PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 20 2022, @05:26PM (#1246633)

      Sorta like "Clutch Cargo"?

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 20 2022, @11:10AM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 20 2022, @11:10AM (#1246537)
    Good luck analyzing my resting bitch face!
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 20 2022, @07:09PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 20 2022, @07:09PM (#1246656)

      That will show them!

      Soon, only the people that opt-out will be the ones able to optionally laugh last! But there'll be no one to facially analyze those of us laughing, as we'd be the last. Who'll have the last laugh then?

      Somehow this metaphor isn't sounding as good as I thought it would. Maybe I should just stick to the resting bitch face myself. If you have a serious enough expression, you can space out the entire meeting and people will think you're actually deeply thinking about what is going on.

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