Posted on 06/30/2021 10:17:27 AM PDT by Red Badger
Uh, say again?
Fully autonomous cars are not here yet but they're coming. Vehicles like the Tesla Model S have helped pave the way forward with its Autopilot system. But different automakers have been offering different timelines as to when this will ultimately happen, and there's still a lot more R&D that needs to happen, as well as safety assurances and government approval. As this technology is being developed, new issues are being discovered that require solutions, and one of the latest discoveries is a bit controversial, to say the least.
According to a new study from the Georgia Institute of Technology, people with darker skin may be more likely to get hit by a self-driving car than those with lighter skin tones. How is this possible? Well, the answer begins with a question the study's authors wanted to find out: How well do the latest object-detection systems used in self-driving cars detect people of different ethnicities?
To get an answer, the researchers examined a large database of pedestrian images and then divided them up according to what's called the Fitzpatrick scale, which is a system for classifying skin tones. The team then analyzed how often these systems correctly detected the presence of people of varying skin tones. In other words, a light-skinned group versus a dark-skinned group.
The results speak for themselves.
The overall detection rate was an average of five percentage points less accurate for the dark-skinned group. What's more, this difference remained even when researchers applied controls for variables like time of day and even obstructed views of those pedestrians.
"We give evidence that standard models for the task of object detection, trained on standard datasets, appear to exhibit higher precision on lower Fitzpatrick skin types than higher skin types," the study's authors concluded. "This behavior appears on large images of pedestrians, and even grows when we remove occluded pedestrians."
The report itself is titled very appropriately "Predictive Inequity in Object Detection," but it's also important to know it has not yet been peer-reviewed, meaning other researchers outside of this group have yet to duplicate the study and then compare those results with the original ones. If those additional findings match, then automakers will quickly need to fix these "racist" detection systems. No doubt this is going to be very interesting.
Oranges are racist!
So who’s gonna drive Miss Daisy?
PHYSICS IS RACIST!!! Waaaahhh! Waaaahhh! Poor meeee! You’re MEAN - gimme stuff.
Maybe not, don’t know. But self-drivers might cut out some of the four-lane changes just before an exit...
Meh, that’s just Phoenix style.
If I am walking down a dark street at night wearing a dark, long sleeve hoodie, dark pants and my black sneakers, there is not going to be a lot of contrast to be detected.
Human drivers have a hard time seeing dark skinned people at night too. Rather than accusing machines of being racist a better solution would be to equip self-driving cars with thermal imaging technology, at least as an option for those willing to pay for it. The insurance companies would likely lower their premiums in exchange for the lower collision risk.
i await the study that concludes rscebaiters and race-card players are racist
they will get there eventually
they always wind up eating their own
No it won’t be “interesting” regarding the skin color of human beings. That’s just stupid because there are LOTS OF BLACK COLORS IN THE WORLD. Black cars, tires, roads, antifa. Lol. Teslas have already killed a couple of people with their autonomous cars. They use cameras. Most developers are using LiDar. Self driving cars already exist but they can’t go very fast. The trick is to identify obstacles at least 200 meters out. That gives the vehicle time to stop even at 70 mph. The industry will struggle to solve the last few percent of safety. 95% isn’t good enough, 99% isn’t good enough. In the auto industry safety must approach 99.99%, especially for autonomous cars given the current stigma and potential for catastrophe. Full disclosure, I work for a lidar company that has raised more money for development than the next 4 closest competitors we have.
Yep.
We see movement and contrasting color more readily then anything else.
Why people seem to think that dressing in all dark colors and going for a stroll along the road in the rain after dark is a smart idea I will never understand.
LIDAR + RADAR + Thermal Imaging + Ultrasound + Doppler + a dedicated processor might achieve 99.99%........................
True. One thing is for sure Red and that is that self-driving cars are coming. And they will be far safer than the idjiots driving under the influence and checking their fakebook accounts.
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