Newsdio Desk : Although, software ‘Proctorio’ was created to identify the students who rely on cheating mechanism to pass the examination, however the open-source software has been historically marred with racial issues.
Yes, the matter came to light when a student failed to get the facial detection and soon it was quite clear that the software couldn’t recognize black faces by almost 50%.
The software which makes an effective supervision all through the time when the students are taking tests doesn’t however justify its presence in a full-fledged manner.
Initially, this seems to be a great work, which can prevent bad practices, but what if it fails to report many students of color as it is unable to detect their faces? Well, this is certainly the case with the software as the same has been reported by many, as per the report issued by Motherboard.
So, in response to the growing complaints, Proctorio is keen to talk to the instructors to sort out the issue. Since, the software is unable to detect black faces.
Akash Satheesan was keen to work its way in ascertaining the exact cause of detection on which the software is based to work on. Upon ascertaining the same, the man thought it work similar to OpenCV which is an open-source computer vision program that also works at the same parameter that is to recognize faces.
He decided to run tests with the help of OpenCV so that the effectiveness of the machines in terms of ascertaining diverse faces can be known.
However, as per the reports, the results were not very encouraging. It was proven that the software couldn’t ascertain specifically black faces and this fact continued more than half times, thus brought to the fore, the biggest snag which the machine was associated with. The maximum percentage which the software could recognize the faces stood out at 75%.
Motherboard got in touch with a security researcher on the same who was also able to authenticate on the same.
Proctorio in its clarification report has said that Satheesan’s test prove one thing that the software was able to recognize the faces, without specifically ascertaining the identity behind the same. However, it doesn’t divulge any details regarding the racial bias which it has been charged with due to the previous complaints.
Since, Proctorio has been earlier charged with failing to identify diverse faces. Due to the same, even a specific university couldn’t renew the contract with the company. Senator Richard Blumenthal has also aired his grievances regarding the bias which the software has unearthed or showcased about it.
It is the softwares like these which have spoken about how racial base has been a source of concern. Since, it is quite a distressing factor which creates an effect in the minds of students.
One hopes that the software is able to remove the anomaly very soon so as to justify its presence by imparting highly professionalized service for the students.
