The problem isn’t so much that the computer is “misgendering” anyone, it’s a computer. The problems arose in two places-
1. If you are using facial recognition that recognizes gender you probably will use the data the system gathers for some purpose regarding gender right? Ok. So now imagine a system that identifies a person by political party but it can’t actually tell if someone has no party or is third party. So now anything that system is used for isn’t going to represent those groups. If the FRS Is used for polling- the members of the “minority” parties will all be included with the data for one of the two “dominant parties.” If such data is used for things like districting or making other decisions- minority parties may not even be considered or majority parities may have their position subverted. There is big potential for everyone to lose. A system to gather data must generally be accurate, and the usage of that data in particular defines how accurate it needs to be.
2. It can be offensive or hurtful to have a machine mislabel you, but if that data is fed to a person that can be worse. Think about it- people often mock the idea of “misgendering,” but do most or even many women find it flattering if someone, even an app says “you look like a man”? Do most men find it flattering to be called effeminate or that they look like a woman? Cis gendered people who act like they don’t understand misgendering or labeling generally do understand when it happens to them. While there is nothing offensive about being homosexual- many heterosexuals often feel insulted or uncomfortable when others reveal they believed that person to be homosexual or approach them as a potential same sex partner and attempt to mate no?
There are more than a few men out there who would be offended or embarrassed etc. if a machine measured their penis and labeled them as a pre pubescent boy based on the reading wether that was a design quirk or not.
I also know that many women, especially those with less developed forms, can be offended when called or assumed to be underage girls as opposed to grown women because their faces or voices or bodies make them “seem like a child.” It’s generally true that not being able to find adult clothing in one’s size because they are “too small” can be embarrassing and upsetting as it often is for those who can’t find clothing or must go to special merchants to buy clothing because their size of some aspect of their body is “too large” for “regular clothes.”
People often et offended when Wendi assume their jobs or their salaries or their ages. While there can be and are many factors from our own biases or social context that cause this- in the end the simplest most encompassing explainarion can be stated as: a person with any strength to their sense of identity does not want to be perceived as other than their self identity. Strong people often don’t like to be called weak, it’s often patronizing to call a short person tall or a less intelligent person smart because they know or feel that they aren’t so assume you are being sarcastic or mocking them- your words conflict their sense of identity. It’s not a hard concept for most people because most people have at some point in their life experienced or observed a case where a persons identity or some aspect of it was misrepresented and it didn’t cause happy feelings or ambivalence.
It is truly amazing how . Biggest development for mankind yet? Just a thought... How a series of numbers and letters can lead to something like 4k 60fps Type graphics/programing on computers. Creating a entirely new reality with numbers and letters.
1. If you are using facial recognition that recognizes gender you probably will use the data the system gathers for some purpose regarding gender right? Ok. So now imagine a system that identifies a person by political party but it can’t actually tell if someone has no party or is third party. So now anything that system is used for isn’t going to represent those groups. If the FRS Is used for polling- the members of the “minority” parties will all be included with the data for one of the two “dominant parties.” If such data is used for things like districting or making other decisions- minority parties may not even be considered or majority parities may have their position subverted. There is big potential for everyone to lose. A system to gather data must generally be accurate, and the usage of that data in particular defines how accurate it needs to be.
I also know that many women, especially those with less developed forms, can be offended when called or assumed to be underage girls as opposed to grown women because their faces or voices or bodies make them “seem like a child.” It’s generally true that not being able to find adult clothing in one’s size because they are “too small” can be embarrassing and upsetting as it often is for those who can’t find clothing or must go to special merchants to buy clothing because their size of some aspect of their body is “too large” for “regular clothes.”