Stanford professor getting death threats over 'gaydar' research

"Our findings expose a threat to the privacy and safety of gay men and women," wrote Michal Kosinski in a paper set to be published by the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology--only he's the one now finding himself in danger. The New York Times takes a look at the quagmire Kosinski finds himself in following his decision to try--and, in some fashion, succeed--at building what many are referring to as "AI gaydar." The Stanford Graduate School of Business professor tells the Times he decided to attempt to use facial recognition analysis to determine whether someone is gay to flag how such analysis could reveal the very things we want to keep private. The Times delves into the research--first highlighted by the Economist in early September--and the many bones its many critics have to pick with it. Kosinski and co-author Yilun Wang pulled 35,000 photos of white Americans from online dating sites (those looking for same-sex partners were classified as gay) and ran them through a "widely used" facial analysis program that turns the location, size, and shape of one's facial characteristics into numbers.