Critics of H-P Software Soften Their Stance

By Justin Scheck
Two people named Desi and Wanda recently set off an uproar with a YouTube video claiming that Hewlett-Packard computers are racist, based on the performance of the company’s facial-recognition software. After a discussion with the company, they seem to be backing down a bit.
Desi is black and Wanda is white. Their video shows H-P’s software making a Web cam follow Wanda’s face, zooming in and out as she moved near or away from the computer. But when “black Desi gets in there, no face recognition anymore,” Desi says onscreen. Indeed, the camera does appear to stop moving when his face shows up.
In response, H-P issued a statement that “proper foreground lighting is required for the product to effectively track any person and their movements.” A spokeswoman for the company declined to comment on why lighting that was okay for Wanda was apparently insufficient for Desi.
After the uproar, a publication called The Grio tested the device for itself and concluded the software isn’t racist: “When our staff sat in front of the face-tracking camera, it responded effectively to people of all shades and colors.”
Through it all, we didn’t know who Desi or Wanda were. Now, it looks like they’ve come out.
A statement issued by Wanda to the Web site Mashable says that their names are Wanda Zamen and Desi Cryer, and they work in the sales department at Toppers Camping Center in Waller, Tex.
The statement says it was their intention “to provide a good natured chuckle to our fellow man,” and they did not imagine that so many people would watch and react to the video.
“We do not really think that a machine can be racist, or that HP is purposely creating software that excludes people of color,” the statement continues. “We think it is just a glitch.”
Somewhat more mysteriously, the statement adds: “H-P has been in contact with us about this matter, at this time that is all we are at liberty to say.”
How does the company characterize what happened? “We had a friendly conversation,” the H-P spokeswoman said. “We encouraged them to use better lighting.” ------From WSJ Blogs
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