Microsoft Brings AI-Powered Background Blurring To Skype (betanews.com) 52
A few months after adding background blurring to its Teams tool, Microsoft has brought the same option to Skype on the desktop. From a report: The feature serves two purposes. Firstly it helps to focus attention on the person that is speaking, but secondly -- and perhaps more importantly -- it hides any untidiness (or secrets) that may be going on behind the speaker. It's another push from Microsoft to move people away from Skype Classic to Skype 8. Background blurring makes use of artificial intelligence to pick out the subject of a video, having been trained to detect hair, hands and arms.
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I just make sure to NOT have an active camera on my work computer.
No picture available....no issues.
I wonder if paid enough (Score:3)
Microsoft has another algorithm so the background blurring could be restored?
I'm guessing there are plenty of governments and government agencies that would like to see more details...
Microsoft's own investment arm probably wants that (Score:3)
Every startup using skype with sales-forecasts on the "blurred" whiteboard showing aggressive growth may find it much easier to get funding.
And M12 may start making supernaturally good investments.
And they don't even need the details -- just a blurring AI that also returns a single bit: "yup, invest in this one", or "yipes, stay away".
Actual use - coherent intent identitfication (Score:1)
- Give MS millions of hours of video + audio + chat transcripts
- Apply ML / AI
- MS can now correlate facial expressions, voice stress, computer recognized speech with intention
- MS can now correlate video with attention paid to the screen/job
Sell to employers to monitor:
- First round: Airline pilots monitored via camera, facial recognition, etc for sleepyness / slack behavior
- Second round: Offshore call centers monitoring workers for attention to the job
- Third
Does it work for black people? (Score:1)
"Background blurring makes use of artificial intelligence to pick out the subject of a video, having been trained to detect hair, hands and arms" of white people only?
https://tech.slashdot.org/story/18/02/11/1055241/facial-recognition-is-accurate-if-youre-a-white-guy [slashdot.org]
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If it's contrast based then there could be problems. I just tried it wearing headphones, and it was blurring them along the sides of my face. Most of the people I meet with wear headsets, so that might get annoying. So I suppose if you have a light skin color and a light background, or a dark skin color and a dark background, then there could be issues. It's not like it's using a kinect or iPhone X style 3D scanner.
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If it's contrast based then there could be problems.
There's a simple solution to all of this. Ahem, my solution, which is by Obfuscant, which is mine, is: don't Skype with secret crap on the wall behind you.
Apologies to Anne Elephant.
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Or, don't skype about business stuff with anyone except fellow coworkers.
In 5 more years... (Score:2)
You know what is going to be cool in five years time? Bokeh free photos. You'll be amazed by them! Using advanced AI processing and machine learning, your phone will be able to expand the depth of field of the camera to remove that annoying blurring that occurs around objects further away. Now everything in your photos will be crisp, clear and in perfect focus - just the way they appear in real life. 2 years later when Apple releases the technology, they will term it Liquid Definition Retina Photos. It is g
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Using advanced AI processing and machine learning, your phone will be able to expand the depth of field of the camera to remove that annoying blurring that occurs around objects further away.
Wow, you think there will be cameras that somehow will defy the laws of physics?
Now everything in your photos will be crisp, clear and in perfect focus - just the way they appear in real life.
You have eyes that defy physics too? Cool!
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Already on your smartphone (Score:3)
This is already common tech in lots of smartphone cameras. When you use portrait mode, it is doing several things and one of them is often the simulation of the bokeh [wikipedia.org] effect you get from good lenses. They are basically artificially blurring the background to simulate the effect and I imagine this is just a video application of the same basic concept. The lenses in most smartphone cameras are too small to have the depth of field [wikipedia.org] necessary to blur backgrounds very effectively optically. It isn't that they are bad lenses, just that the laws of physics prevent them from doing this particular trick very well.
Of course they have to pretend AI is somehow involved so they can punch their buzzword bingo card.
But does it work on black people? (Score:3)
Things like this are notoriously bad at picking out black people. Hopefully they've learned from past mistakes and they've trained the AI to be better.
Not impressed (Score:2, Funny)
If they an teach AI to identify ugly people and blur their faces, we can talk.
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Then how the hell would anyone be able to hold a video call with you?
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Not at all, that's the point. I could work from home in my underwear.
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Not at all, that's the point. I could work from home in my underwear.
you know they invented these things called "telephones" which only transmit your voice, right? -_-
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Yes, and I was happy as long as they existed, but then they came up with this newfangled stuff called "video", and now my boss wants to look at me when he talks to me.
No, I have no idea either why he, or anyone, would want to. I'm the happiest clam if I don't have to see someone's mug if I'm already forced to actually talk to him.
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If they an teach AI to identify ugly people and blur their faces, we can talk.
But then we can't see your face.
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As stated above, that's the point!
Background blurring? (Score:2)
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thats auto focus for you because AI
NSA/CIA and deep fakes (Score:1)
Eventually Microsoft will have collected enough image and sound analysis data of you, that their overlords can collect it and literally put your face and voice to any spoken words and claim it's real. It may not sound concerning to you, but there are always people in higher up and more important places that could be targets for these things.
If you think the whole "deep fake" thing is not of interest to the U.S. government, then you probably think CIA is as harmless as a toy factory.
Killer App - Deepfakes (Score:2)
Lots of companies try and do interviews on Skype to make sure the person they talk to remotely is the person who turns up. Especially in the contract workforce there is not always a in person interview. And there are many unscrupulous contracting bodyshoppers who have someone else take the interview. If Microsoft can provide a Skype Professional version which can do real time deepfakes on Skype than they can sell many licenses.
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Everyone gets the same MS created background depending on detected light conditions.
LOOK, MORE A.I.!!!!!!11 (Score:4, Insightful)
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People have been saying for years that I have artificial intelligence!
But nobody uses Skype (Score:1)
That's great and all... but in my experience, effectively nobody uses Skype.
I have a Skype contact list of ~250 people, and in most weeks the number of other people I see signed in and actually active is zero.
My belief is that this started when Microsoft made the decision at some point to obscure the 'online' status, such that even people who haven't signed in to their account in months or years appear "online but away". If everyone consistently thinks their friends are online but have just stepped away --
People are still using Skype? (Score:2)
Everyone I know has dropped using skype and gone to whats app or zoom.
Microsoft may be great at locking people stockholm style into legacy products like office but they are making very little headway into mobile, web, and social media. Karma!
skype (Score:1)