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Google updates image search engine to address algorithmic racial biases

Expect more diverse results when searching for images of "beautiful skin" or "happy families"

Your Google image searches should now look less overwhelmingly white, as the company recently retrained its algorithms to fetch more accurate, racially diverse results.

According to Bloomberg, a Google spokesperson described the update as an effort to ensure a wider range of skin tones are displayed when users search for images of things like “beautiful skin,” “professional hairstyles,” and “happy family.”

Historically, searching those terms would yield images featuring mostly — if not entirely — people with lighter skin tones.

This update is the latest of several efforts from the tech giant to improve the accuracy of its search engine against bias and misinformation.

For example, Google also plans on improving its main search engine to make sure inquiries about climate change result in detailed and scientifically factual information.

At a major hardware launch on October 19th, Google unveiled its new Pixel 6 smartphone series, which feature ‘Real Tone’ technology to ensure darker skin tones are accurately and equitably captured by the phone’s camera.

Source: Bloomberg

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