Newswire:

Computers Know How Hot You Are

Think you’re cute? Your computer might disagree.

Researchers at Tel Aviv University, burdened with deep insecurities over their own hotness, have “programmed the computer to successfully determine just how beautiful (or not) a woman is.” [Financial Times]

Sexist, we know, but we’re sure one for the dudes isn’t far behind.

Here’s how it worked:

• Humans teach: “30 men and women were presented with 100 different faces of Caucasian women, roughly of the same age, and were asked to judge the beauty of each face.” They rated the faces 1 through 7 and didn’t have to give an explanation for their rating.
• The computer learns: “Based on human preferences, the machine ‘learned’ the relation between facial features and attractiveness scores and was then put to the test on a fresh set of faces.”
• The results? Good. The computer’s aesthetic judgments were roughly the same as rankings that people gave the new faces.
  

Your computer is now as superficial as you are.

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