How beauty filters took over social media

Error-riddled datasets are warping our sense of how good AI really is

Sponsored by Morgan Stanley The Download Your daily dose of what's up in emerging technology Filtering faces 04.02.21 Good morning! Today: Beauty filters weren't just a trend that took over social media organically—their popularity was powered by algorithms. And New York's nail salons are a microcosm for the millions of workers forgotten by the government's pandemic response. The Download is taking Monday off, and will resume regular service April 6. Get your friends to sign up for the newsletter here. How beauty filters took over social media   When augmented-reality face filters first appeared on social media, they were a gimmick. They allowed users to play a kind of virtual dress-up: change your face to look like an animal, or suddenly grow a mustache.  Today, though, more and more young people—and especially teenage girls—are using filters that “beautify” their appearance and promise to deliver model-esque looks by sharpening, shrinking, enhancing, and recoloring their faces and bodies. On Snapchat, Instagram, and TikTok, these filters are popular with millions of people.  Researchers don’t yet understand the impact that sustained use of face filters may have, but they do know there are real risks—and young girls are the ones taking that risk. They are subjects in an experiment that will show how the technology changes the way we form our identities, represent ourselves, and relate to others. Read the full story. —Tate Ryan-Mosley How has the US pandemic response increased inequality? Look at New York’s nail salons. Even when covid-19 forced nail salons in New York City to close in the spring of 2020, Araceli, a 33-year old nail technician with a decade of experience, continued to work. She started making house calls to clients as the pandemic raged. She needed the income—even though she knew that without health insurance, the hospital bills would be too high to cover if she got sick. Araceli is part of an industry overwhelmingly made up of Latina and Asian immigrant women in New York. Salon workers have faced alarming infection rates: 29% of New York’s nail workers said they tested positive for covid-19—nearly three times the rate in the city as a whole. (An additional 9% said they suspect they had the virus but couldn’t get a test to confirm it.) All told, they have faced huge barriers to staying safe and solvent—and their circumstances illustrate the enormous cracks in the US pandemic response that have affected millions. Read the full story. —Mia Sato Error-riddled datasets are warping our sense of how good AI really is The news: The 10 most cited AI data sets are riddled with label errors, according to a new study out of MIT, and it’s distorting our understanding of the field’s progress. Data backbone: Data sets are the backbone of AI research. ImageNet, for example, kicked off the modern AI revolution. But in recent years, studies have found that these data sets can contain serious flaws. ImageNet, for example, contains racist and sexist labels. This new study looks at another problem: many of the labels are just flat-out wrong. A mushroom is labeled a spoon, a frog is labeled a cat, and a high note from Ariana Grande is labeled a whistle.  Does this matter? Yes. The researchers looked at 34 models whose performance had previously been measured against the ImageNet test set. Then they remeasured each model against the roughly 1,500 examples where the data labels were found to be wrong. They found that the models that didn’t perform so well on the original incorrect labels were some of the best performers after the labels were corrected. In other words, we may have an inflated sense of how great these complicated models are because of flawed testing data. Read the full story.   —Karen Hao We can still have nice things A place for comfort, fun and distraction in these weird times. (Got any ideas? Drop me a line or tweet 'em at me.)   + A live stream of an eagle's nest.   + Art and math make glorious bedfellows.    + Charlotte has said it before and she's saying it again: cats are liquid.   + Dancing in basements: we’ve all been there.    + Incredible moment to be hosting a parade of ships. Sponsor Message Exceptional Leaders / Exceptional Ideas: The Future of Remote Work In the first episode, of Morgan Stanley’s new series Exceptional Leaders / Exceptional Ideas, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella sits down with Morgan Stanley’s Rob Rooney and Keith Weiss to discuss workplace digital transformation, the office of the future and building a culture of resiliency. Post-pandemic, will the workplace ever be the same?   Learn more. The must-reads I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology. 1 Preparing for the next pandemic means understanding what scientists got wrong about covid One scientist makes a case for why experts need to be thoroughly transparent about their mistaken predictions. (Wired $)   + Alex Berenson has consistently been wrong about almost everything since the start of the pandemic. (The Atlantic $)   + Updated results show Pfizer’s covid-19 vaccine is 91.3% effective for at least 6 months. (Axios)   + Tech companies are trying to build a covid passport app that certifies people's vaccination. (NBC News)   + Vaccine side effects are getting a lot of attention, but they’re also remarkably difficult for researchers to nail down. (Nature) 2 Myanmar’s government has indefinitely shut down internet access The move comes after two months of protests against the military coup that overthrew the democratically-elected government. (WP)   + Myanmar’s military has also been an arsenal of digital tools as part of its crackdown against the protests. (NYT $)   + How India became the world’s leader in internet shutdowns. (TR) 3 Online content moderation needs to be reimagined  Moderators’ jobs need to be envisioned as more than just censorship capabilities. (Study Hall)   + Why social media can’t keep moderating content in the shadows (TR)  4 Inside the dodgy world of dark patterns There's a deeply shady side to web design, and regulators are increasingly onto it. (Recode) 5 Biden's $100 billion bet on better WiFi for America The pandemic has made the case for affordable, accessible broadband for all look pretty rock-solid. (NYT $)   + You can expect fierce resistance from telecoms companies. (Wired $) 6 Robots are starting to learn how to use their arms to keep balance while walking Next step: opening doors. (IEEE Spectrum) 7 Scientists created a “living robot” that can record memories and heal its structure  It’s the second version of the so-called Xenobots that are made from tissue harvested from amphibian stem cells. (The Next Web) 8 This computer scientist is taking on algorithmic inequality Seriously important work, given the scale of the challenge. (Quanta) 9 Why we can't get enough of online chili-eating contests I'm bored, you're bored, let's watch some strangers inflicting totally needless pain on themselves. (The Guardian) 10 King Kong and Godzilla are simply too large now It's all fun and games until they start defying the laws of physics. (Wired UK)   + Who would actually win in a fight between the two beasts? A paleontologist weighs in. (BBC Science Focus) What's next for a digitally transformed workforce? Join MIT Technology Review and Harvard Business Review at EmTech Next, the signature "future of work" event. Explore innovative technologies and leadership strategies that will power a forever changed workforce. Reserve your spot today. Quote of the Day "It was always assumed that if you were commenting on the internet, your handle was not your real name." —QAnon critic Travis View reveals his real name to be Logan Strain, and tells the Washington Post why he kept the pseudonym for so long. Top image credit: Joan Wong Please send post-April Fools jokes to hi@technologyreview.com. Follow me on Twitter at @n_vpatel. Thanks for reading! —Neel Was this newsletter forwarded to you, and you'd like to see more? Sign up today Leading a forever-changed workforce Join us virtually | June 8-10, 2021 Register now   Follow us: MIT Technology Review One Main Street Cambridge, MA 02142

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