Microsoft Scraps Some Facial-Analysis Tools, Citing Risk of Bias

Microsoft Corp. will stop selling artificial intelligence-based facial-analysis software tools that infer a subject’s emotional state, gender, age, mood and other personal attributes after the algorithms were shown to exhibit problematic bias and inaccuracies.

Existing customers of the tools can keep using them for a year before they expire. The company is also limiting the use of other facial-recognition programs to ensure the technologies meet Microsoft’s ethical AI guidelines. New customers will need to apply for access to facial-recognition features in Microsoft’s Azure Face API, Computer Vision and Video Indexer, while current customers have a year to apply for continued access. The changes were outlined with the release ...