We came across How-Old.net on Twitter via the hashtag #HowOldRobot this morning. The site is an insult-triggering website that was recently built by Microsoft to guess people’s age and gender based on an uploaded image and is definitely begging for trouble.
Microsoft never thought that this website would be so popular as it is today. In fact, it was planning on having only 50 visitors to test it. Instead, the website has garnered interests of over 35,000 people and is one of the most trending topics on Twitter today. It appears that if you publish a game or an Internet parlor trick like this, there is no end to the information people will give out for free.
Pranksters and people with a sense of humour, who are in search of a lunch break distraction, have been uploading photos of themselves, their dolls, celebrities and other images to the platform to see how uproariously funny it is if the tool is out by a year or two.
The tool is not always accurate. In fact, it suggested that Pamela Wallin was 87 when she is actually 62. It was almost on the dot with Toronto Mayor John Tory who they suggested was 56 when he is 60. And as for President Barack Obama, well the Microsoft reader predicted that he was 58, when he’s only 54.
It’s an oddity, but it demonstrates how Microsoft is forward thinking about data, facial recognition, and all kinds of other out-of-this-world technologies. It’s a little taste of things to come in the future.
It’s coincidentally #FridayFunday on social media and on the World Wide Web. This is a great way to end off a long, tiresome week with a few laughs and awes.
I wonder if Microsoft will integrate this app with Windows 10 when it goes live in a few months.
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