Facebook algorithm identifies photographs when faces are obscured

In 2015, Facebook's AI lab announced that its researchers had devised an experimental algorithm that could recognise people in photographs even when their faces are hidden or turned away. The researchers trained a sophisticated neural network on a dataset of 40,000 photographs taken from Flickr, some full-face and others facing away and were able to reach 83% accuracy. The company hopes an algorithm like this one could help apps like Facebook's then-new Moments sort photos into groups. 

https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn27761-facebook-can-recognise-you-in-photos-even-if-youre-not-looking

Writer: Aviva Rutkin
Publication: New Scientist