Google Explains Why Some Image Search Results Look Racist

Jan 3, 2019 - 8:09 am 165 by
Filed Under Google

Couple

Someone pointed out to Google's Danny Sullivan that searching Google Image search for [white couples] vs [black couples] shows racist bias by Google. Danny Sullivan explained why the results were not racist on Twitter.

First, look at the differences between the two search results.

[white couples]:

click for full size

[black couples]:

click for full size

You can see while the black couples search results show just black couples, the white couples shows interracial couples.

Danny explained "As it turns out, when people post images of white couples, they tend to say only "couples" & not provide a race. But when there are mixed couples, then "white" gets mentioned. Our image search depends on heavily words -- so when we don't get the words, this can happen."

Maybe Google has to learn how to be more sensitive to people? Or will that cause more bias?

Forum discussion at Twitter.

 

Popular Categories

The Pulse of the search community

Follow

Search Video Recaps

 
Google March Core Update Done, HCU Recoveries, Site Reputation Abuse & AI Topics - YouTube
Video Details More Videos Subscribe to Videos

Most Recent Articles

Search Forum Recap

Daily Search Forum Recap: May 3, 2024

May 3, 2024 - 4:00 pm
Search News

The Industry Mourns The Loss Of Mark Irvine - Brilliant & Giving Search Marketer

May 3, 2024 - 1:10 pm
Search Video Recaps

Search News Buzz Video Recap: Google March Core Update Done, HCU Recoveries, Site Reputation Abuse & AI Topics

May 3, 2024 - 8:01 am
Google

Google SGE AI Answers Now Cost 80% Less To Generate

May 3, 2024 - 7:51 am
Google Search Engine Optimization

Google Open To Alternative Ideas For Hreflang

May 3, 2024 - 7:41 am
Google Search Engine Optimization

Google Recrawls URLs At Different Rates: Multiple Times Per Day To Every Few Months

May 3, 2024 - 7:31 am
Previous Story: Bing: We Ignore Default Robots Directives If There Is A Bingbot Section