Google doodles are one of the more fun functions of Google. It is a mode of self-expression that Google uses to celebrate significant dates. The search engine page has different interesting doodles on special dates.

 

They had an AI experiment back in 2016 where they guessed what users were doodling. It was an Artificial Intelligence Pictionary which Google later released. It showcased millions of sketches collected as an open-source dataset.

 

However, they discovered that Google’s AI did not recognise a set of doodles. These were sketches of the p***s.

 

 

Apparently, Google was being too much of a prude to allow the drawing of the p***s to pass. Young people draw images of the p***s in different places for different reasons. They do this even more than the female lady part. This is probably because it is so easy to scribble on various surfaces.

 

Anti-prude Google

Meanwhile, bringing attention to this intentional oversight by Google, the Mozilla foundation will build an AI p***s doodle detector. The foundation commissioned a Dutch design studio called Moniker to carry this out. The idea is to question the rationale behind how Google determines what users see online.

 

The p***s detector says “we assume this was a mistake” and automatically erases the image if it is a p***s that is drawn. It also gives users a warning about taking individual expression a little too far. If a user is persistent, the tool will go into a frenzy and start to doodle itself.

 

 

A moniker executive, Roel Wouters, expressed the fact that Google uses technology to disallow the drawing of a p***s as worrisome. He said it was a symbol that tech giants had too much power.

 

Wouters also cited an example of when Facebook banned images of nipples from the platform and Instagram. Protesters at the time believed it was a deterrent to self-expression.

 

“The point is that we think our moral compasses should not be in the hands of big tech. We question the fact that we gave the responsibility for our social infrastructure away in exchange for “free” usage without even realising. Don’t you think it’s a bit weird that Instagram’s ‘community guidelines’ for sharing images are imposed on all the world’s citizens and all cultures?” Wouters argued.

 

Google’s Quick, Draw! project has been widely received. But, Wouters worries that the platform will curb people from expressing their profane thoughts. He thinks that they might be doing too much with online censorship.