Can A.I. Be Taught to Explain Itself?

In September, Michal Kosinski published a study that he feared might end his career. The Economist broke the news first, giving it a self-consciously anodyne title: "Advances in A.I. Are Used to Spot Signs of Sexuality." But the headlines quickly grew more alarmed. By the next day, the Human Rights Campaign and Glaad, formerly known as the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, had labeled Kosinski's work "dangerous" and "junk science." In the next week, the tech-news site The Verge had run an article that, while carefully reported, was nonetheless topped with a scorching headline: "The Invention of A.I. 'Gaydar' Could Be the Start of Something Much Worse."