Facebook using AI to help blind see

Facebook has developed a new form of assistive technology for blind and partially sighted users using artificial intelligence (AI). This new feature known as 'automatic alternate text' integrates with existing screen reader apps, providing a description of objects and images to visually impaired users. The next stage is the use of facial recognition although that is confined to the drawing board at present. This ensures that blind and partially sighted users have access to social networking tools such as Facebook and Twitter.There are more than 249 million people in the world with a visual impairment that includes 39 million who are registered blind. This innovation helps social media platforms to become more inclusive.

Facebook is ready to help blind people ‘see’ images via artificial intelligence. The new feature, called automatic alternate text, works with existing screen reader apps used by blind and visually impaired people. The AI-generated descriptions identify objects and scenes but there is no facial recognition –although we can imagine it’s on the way. So you if you share an image with A visually impaired friend it won’t tell him or her who is in the picture or what everyone is wearing, but it might read “Image may contain: three people, smiling, birthday cake.”

There are more than 246 million people around the world with severe visual impairments and 39 million who are blind, according to Facebook. More than 2 billion photos are shared daily on Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, and WhatsApp. Automatic alternate text can help social media be more inclusive.

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Facebook’s automatic alternate text introduction follows Twitter’s announcement last week of a 420 image character description field also intended for visually impaired people who use screen readers with mobile devices. With the Twitter app the person who composes the Tweet also writes the description. The Facebook feature automatically attempts to describe the image, with the disclaimer “Image may contain.” Of course, a Facebook post creator has plenty of space to describe images already, while Twitter limits regular text to just 140 characters. In each case blind and visually impaired people get less of a raw deal.

Facebook’s automatic alternate text feature is available now for people who use iOS devices in English in the U.S., U.K., Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. The company plans to support more platforms, languages, and market in the near future.

The accuracy of Facebook’s automatic alternate text feature matters and will likely improve over time.

We imagine that facial recognition is already on the planning board. On the other hand, perhaps it’s better not to attempt to identify people in photos Until the tech is flawless. Imagine if a Facebook screen reader misidentified and called out the wrong names. In some circumstances that could be pretty embarrassing.

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