{"id":8300,"date":"2021-10-11T18:44:42","date_gmt":"2021-10-11T18:44:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/TheNextWeb=1369538"},"modified":"2021-10-11T18:44:42","modified_gmt":"2021-10-11T18:44:42","slug":"why-cant-googles-algorithms-find-any-good-news-for-queer-people","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/?p=8300","title":{"rendered":"Why can\u2019t Google\u2019s algorithms find any good news for queer people?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>If you\u2019re interested in reading about the global suffering of queer people I\u2019ve got just the place for you. It\u2019s called \u201cGoogle News.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Today\u2019s actually an off day for the product. Typically, if you take a gander at the \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/topics\/CAAqIQgKIhtDQkFTRGdvSUwyMHZNR2h1TVRBU0FtVnVLQUFQAQ?hl=en-US&amp;gl=US&amp;ceid=US%3Aen\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">LGBTQ+<\/a>\u201d<i><\/i><span>topic in Google News you\u2019ll find that about 90% of the stories surfaced by the platform\u2019s algorithms are negative.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>But today is \u201cComing Out Day,\u201d so there\u2019s a handful of non-negative pieces in the feed right now taking up slots that are typically filled with negative ones. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><figure class=\"post-image post-mediaBleed aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1369540 aligncenter js-lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2021\/10\/queertopic.jpg\" alt=\"a screenshot of the LGBTQ+ topic on Google News\" width=\"1159\" height=\"1491\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1159px) 100vw, 1159px\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2021\/10\/queertopic.jpg 1159w, https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2021\/10\/queertopic-163x210.jpg 163w, https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2021\/10\/queertopic-105x135.jpg 105w, https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2021\/10\/queertopic-210x270.jpg 210w, https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2021\/10\/queertopic-796x1024.jpg 796w\"><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1369540 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2021\/10\/queertopic.jpg\" alt=\"a screenshot of the LGBTQ+ topic on Google News\" width=\"1159\" height=\"1491\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2021\/10\/queertopic.jpg 1159w, https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2021\/10\/queertopic-163x210.jpg 163w, https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2021\/10\/queertopic-105x135.jpg 105w, https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2021\/10\/queertopic-210x270.jpg 210w, https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2021\/10\/queertopic-796x1024.jpg 796w\"><\/noscript><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n<p><span>As of the time of this article\u2019s publishing, the stories that surface in the LGBTQ+ topic break down as follows:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span>52 total in feed<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span>39 clearly negative<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span>12 not directly negative<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span>1 entirely unrelated<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span>The negative pieces make up about 76% of the feed. That\u2019s a problem. And it\u2019s a really simple problem to solve. But Google has no interest in doing so b<\/span><span>ecause the solution is to replace the algorithm with human curators.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>And not just because the algorithms in use are apparently biased towards negative news pieces concerning the LGBTQ+ community, but because they\u2019re just bad at curating news.<\/p>\n<p><span>For example, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.arrowheadpride.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Arrowhead Pride<\/a> newspaper\u2019s readers were probably quite interested to learn that Willie Gay Jr. was going to be active for Sunday\u2019s game against the Bills. But this news wasn\u2019t useful to the LGBTQ+ community at large. And it certainly doesn\u2019t belong in the \u201cPride\u201d section. <\/span><span>That\u2019s a mistake no human curator would have made.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><figure class=\"post-image post-mediaBleed aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1369545 aligncenter js-lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2021\/10\/notpride.jpg\" alt=\"A screenshot of the Google News feed for LGBTQ+ Pride\" width=\"1611\" height=\"1224\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1611px) 100vw, 1611px\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2021\/10\/notpride.jpg 1611w, https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2021\/10\/notpride-276x210.jpg 276w, https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2021\/10\/notpride-178x135.jpg 178w, https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2021\/10\/notpride-355x270.jpg 355w, https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2021\/10\/notpride-1536x1167.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2021\/10\/notpride-796x605.jpg 796w, https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2021\/10\/notpride-1592x1210.jpg 1592w\"><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1369545 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2021\/10\/notpride.jpg\" alt=\"A screenshot of the Google News feed for LGBTQ+ Pride\" width=\"1611\" height=\"1224\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2021\/10\/notpride.jpg 1611w, https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2021\/10\/notpride-276x210.jpg 276w, https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2021\/10\/notpride-178x135.jpg 178w, https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2021\/10\/notpride-355x270.jpg 355w, https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2021\/10\/notpride-1536x1167.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2021\/10\/notpride-796x605.jpg 796w, https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2021\/10\/notpride-1592x1210.jpg 1592w\"><\/noscript><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n<p><span>Yesterday it was the top story in the Pride section. Today, it\u2019s been replaced by a news piece about someone taking a crap on a Pride flag. In fact, all of the stories displayed in the section are negative. So much for Pride.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Again, this isn\u2019t something that would happen with a human curator. Bigots probably think it\u2019s hilarious though. <\/span><\/p>\n<p>It would be understandable if we lived in a world where there simply wasn\u2019t any good news related to queer people. But that\u2019s a ridiculous assertion that\u2019s easy to refute.<\/p>\n<p><span>If we take a look at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pinknews.co.uk\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">PinkNews<\/a>, a popular queer news publication, its front page is full of positive news pieces. There\u2019s some negative ones too. That\u2019s how balanced coverage works.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Unfortunately, Google\u2018s algorithms aren\u2019t capable of finding balance or surfacing relevant pieces. It surfaces what it\u2019s been trained to look for. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Google is comprised of mostly straight, cisgender, white men and its products work demonstrably better for people fitting that description than those who don\u2019t. <\/span><\/p>\n<p>Nearly <a href=\"https:\/\/www.statista.com\/statistics\/232786\/forecast-of-andrioid-users-in-the-us\/#:~:text=The%20number%20of%20Android%20smartphone,than%20130%20million%20in%202021.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">half of the people in the US<\/a> use an Android device. And most of those come with Google News preinstalled. That means Google News is among the globe\u2019s largest aggregators of news.<\/p>\n<p><span>And the algorithm is feeding everyone almost exclusively negative stories related to the LGBTQ+ community without apparent or competent human oversight. That\u2019s bound to have some consequences.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The biggest problem is that Google is <a href=\"https:\/\/venturebeat.com\/2017\/05\/18\/ai-weekly-google-shifts-from-mobile-first-to-ai-first-world\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">an AI company<\/a>. And the answer to every problem it faces is always going to be: more AI. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>And, because of that, Google\u2018s become old and out of touch. It\u2019s still operating like an early 2000s-era big business that\u2019s beholden to outdated retro-futuristic ideas on how powerful algorithms will be in \u201cjust a few more years.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The reality is that Google\u2018s been developing these algorithms for longer than it takes to educate a doctor and they\u2019re still functionally stupider than a 5th grader. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>AI isn\u2019t the future. It\u2019s just a tool. The future is people.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>We reached out to Google for comment. We\u2019ll update this piece if we get a response.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><em>Related: <a href=\"https:\/\/thenextweb.com\/news\/google-news-queer-ai-journalist\">Google News thinks I\u2019m the queerest AI journalist on Earth<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<p> <a href=\"https:\/\/thenextweb.com\/news\/why-cant-googles-algorithms-find-good-news-queer-people\">Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If you\u2019re interested in reading about the global suffering of queer people I\u2019ve got just the place for you. It\u2019s called \u201cGoogle News.\u201d Today\u2019s actually an off day for the product. Typically,&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8301,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8300"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8300"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8300\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/8301"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8300"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8300"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8300"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}