Google searches for new measure of skin tones to curb bias in products - KSL.com

MOUNTAIN VIEW, California (Reuters) — Alphabet's Google told Reuters this week it is developing an alternative to the industry-standard method for classifying skin tones, which a growing chorus of technology researchers and dermatologists says is inadequate for assessing whether products are biased against people of color.

Critics say FST, which includes four categories for "white" skin and one apiece for "black" and "brown," disregards diversity among people of color.

The concern over FST is that its limited scale for darker skin could lead to technology that, for instance, works for golden brown skin but fails for espresso red tones.

A decade later came type V for "brown" skin and VI for "black." The scale is still part of U.S.

"Many people would assume I am skin type V, which rarely to never burns, but I burn," said Dr.

Susan Taylor, a University of Pennsylvania dermatologist who founded Skin of Color Society in 2004 to promote research on marginalized communities.

A 2018 study titled "Gender Shades," which found facial analysis systems more often misgendered people with darker skin, popularized using FST for evaluating AI.

But use of FST could be fueling "false assurances" about heart rate readings from smartwatches on darker skin, University of California San Diego clinicians, inspired by the Black Lives Matter social equality movement, wrote in the journal Sleep last year.

Apple said it tests on humans across skin tones using various measures, FST only at times among them.