What Happens When Everything Becomes Inferable?
We all make inferences. But must we get explicit consent every time we do?
This week, I came across the following article in Forbes, "A.I. can use VR headset data to predict users’ personal data even if they don’t directly reveal it, researchers warn", discussing two studies where researchers used AI to infer characteristics or traits about individuals wearing VR headsets. One of the studies (which may still be in pre-print and can be found here), out of the University of California, Berkeley, observed that researchers could effectively match participants’ separately-provided survey responses which included information on their personal background, demographics, behavioral & health information, to head and hand movement patterns observed during VR gameplay.
The researchers, relying on VR motion samples and machine learning models, were able to match head and hand movement data to individual participants’ survey responses, and through inference, accurately determine …
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Privacat Insights to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.