The Google Arts and Culture app has a race problem
The Google Arts and Culture app (available on iOS and Android) has been around for two years, but this weekend, it shot to the top of both major app stores because of a small, quietly added update.
SEE ALSO:Google declares war against Alexa and Siri at CES 2018The newest feature lets you take a selfie, then searches a database of well-known artworks from around the world to match your photo with a face from a museum piece.
The software uses advanced artificial intelligence and facial recognition to analyze patterns in your face, then find similar traits across real photos and paintings. It's a fun experiment — especially if you get a good match.
But the app has been plagued by one major problem: It doesn't work very well for people of color and includes few artists from Latin America or places outside of Europe. So, if you're Mexican-American, like me, and you're looking to have some fun with the app... well, good luck!
Hispanics have been practically whitewashed from the system.
Take a look at my results:
The Google Arts and Culture app matched my selfie with a painting of Sir Arthur Seymour Sullivan by Bee Ward from the Royal College of Music.Credit: Google Arts & cultureThe Google Arts and Culture app also matched my selfie with a Portrait of Abe Yoshishige by YASUI Sotaro from the Bridgestone Museum of Art, Ishibashi Foundation.Credit: Google Arts & CultureIn the five results that were retrieved for my selfie, three were European men, and the other two were Asian. I've tried the feature on different days, in different lighting, and while smiling and acting serious. I can't get the app to retrieve any photos of Latin American artists, no matter how hard I try. Nothing seems to work.
Sure, maybe I should have seen this coming. The art collecting world has historically been Eurocentric and fixated on the Western greats like Van Gogh, Picasso, Monet, Da Vinci, and Matisse. Although some collectors are branching out to Asia, they're still ignoring most of the Latin American world.
This is easiest to see when you look at Google's Arts & Culture list of places from which it has begun digitizing art. There are more than 700,000 items from the United States, more than 75,000 from the United Kingdom, and nearly 60,000 from Germany.
Compare that to the measly 16,000 artworks from Mexico (which, by the way, is home to one of the most populated and culturally vibrant cities in the world) or the measly 3,500 items from Peru, and you begin to get a sense of just how skewed the data is. In short, this seemingly fun app about art culture is actually quite biased and a little bit racist.
I wasn't the only person who noticed:
Tweet may have been deleted
Tweet may have been deleted
Is this enough reason to call for the destruction of the app?
No, of course not.
The consequences of this shortcoming are fairly inconsequential, since it's still a relatively new project and Google is actively adding more artwork to the project.
But it is sure as hell disappointing. Technology is supposed to be the great equalizer; it's supposed to give greater access and provide a more wholistic worldview to everyone. When this type of project is so heavily focused on the U.S., Europe, and Asia, it sends the message that art from the rest of the world is not valued nearly as much. It also prevents people like me from sharing their stupid museum-selfie doppelgänger.
Featured Video For You
Greece comes to a standstill amid day-long strike and clashes with police
(责任编辑:新闻中心)
- Garmin Fenix 8 vs. Apple Watch Ultra: The Fenix wins big on battery life
- 干完农活,我们还要开车去旅游
- Facebook's election 'war room' is now empty
- 一只大熊猫到硗碛电站玩耍
- “笋货”上市采购旺!清远西牛麻竹笋迎秋季尝鲜热
- 24 of the Oldest Trees in the World
- Trudeau, Johnson, and other NATO leaders caught on video apparently gossiping about Trump
- Nadal fails to keep up with Fritz in ATP Finals
- Jungkook, Morgan Freeman at Qatar World Cup opening ceremony
- Haider all set for Paralympics Ceremony
- Chance the Rapper wins Best New Artist, because sometimes the Grammys are right
- 芦山 治理“四乱”就要从身边做起
- Saudi Arabia shock Messi’s Argentina in 2022 World Cup
-
Update your BIOS: Utilities from Top Motherboard Makers
PSA:Enthusiasts building their own PCs are accustomed to keeping up with latest drivers, especially ...[详细] -
Burger King brings romance to Valentine's Day with two
Sharing drinks is possibly the ultimate benefit of being in a relationship, or even just casually ac ...[详细] -
France place World Cup hopes in Mbappe
DOHA:World Cup holders France will need Kylian Mbappe at his best in Qatar following the loss of Bal ...[详细] -
雅安日报讯 昨14)日,记者从宝兴县委农工办获悉,今年以来,宝兴县强力推进新农村示范片建设,将其与灾后重建、乡村旅游、城乡环境综合治理、农村基层组织建设相结合,取得明显成效。该县加强校企合作,利用院校 ...[详细]
-
8月25日中午,烈日当头,热浪滚滚。环卫工人王芳走进青江街道汉碑路社区户外劳动服务站点汉驿站,从冰箱里拿出今天的午饭。“我一上午在马路两侧来回保洁,到了中午能到驿站休息一会儿,喝点凉水,感觉非常舒服。 ...[详细]
-
本报讯 昨20)日,记者从市经委获悉,上半年,我市共实施工业技改投资项目152个其中新开工73个),完成投资15.14亿元,同比增长22.5%。“技改造是推进传统产业改造升级和走新型工业化道路的关键环 ...[详细]
-
Tensions in East Asia reach dangerous new level
This March 26 file photo carried by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency shows a KN-23 missile b ...[详细] -
Men caught distributing 30,000 items of online child porn
Police have caught three men accused of distributing child pornography on the internet, according to ...[详细] -
改造提升后的景观节点本报讯8月23日,记者再次来到芦山县飞仙关4A级景区旅游基础设施建设项目施工现场,与两个月前相比,这里的变化十分明显。芦山县飞仙关4A级景区旅游基础设施建设项目共有两个标段,建设内 ...[详细]
-
高标准打造荔枝之乡展示厅、会客厅、体验场|市委书记抓乡村振兴2024.04.22-04.28)_南方+_南方plus本文收录于专辑上周,各地市都注重发挥乡村特色优势,打造具有地方特色的产业和景观。茂名 ...[详细]
North Korea says it conducted important test to develop multiple warhead missile
How sunshine is bringing radio to remote parts of South Sudan
- 雅安市第四人民医院:工娱治疗让患者康复之路充满希望
- Mbappe on target for five
- Officer and pup partner enforce the law and look good doing it
- Yoon keeps all options open to counter North Korea's threats
- Haider all set for Paralympics Ceremony
- Stephen King has some golden Thanksgiving advice for avoiding political arguments
- 干完农活,我们还要开车去旅游