A facial recognition software that uses artificial intelligence to distinguish between gays and straight people is facing backlash from LGBT advocacy groups, New York Post reports.
The study by Stanford University is able to recognize facial features relating to sexual orientation that average humans are unable to see.
Details of their research will be peer reviewed and published on the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.
With the use of photos, AI will also be able to determine an individual’s political views, IQ level, potential criminal behavior, and other personal details that have major social consequences, according to Michal Kosinski, the Stanford University professor who led the research.
Now two prominent LGBT rights groups are denouncing the study, describing it as “junk science.”
GLAAD and the Human Rights Campaign say it could be used as a weapon against gays and lesbians and even heterosexuals who could be wrongly “outed” as gays.