If youre captivated by the drama of the European Football Championship, have you considered watching Wimbledon instead?
Tennis is, after all, a more euphoric sport to watch.
Or so claims a new AI analysis.
The study by British TV platform Freeview explored emotional reactions to different sports by analyzing the expressions of viewers.
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Measuring emotions
Emotion recognition technology (ERT) is an extremely controversial area of AI.
Scientistshave arguedthat the systems are not only inaccurate and biased, but akin to phrenology.
The skepticism is rational.
People show their emotions in countless ways, which makes analyses based on facial movements unreliable at best.
Researchshowsthat emotions are expressed differently across cultures and societies.
ERT has also beenfoundto interpret Black peoples faces as angrier than white peoples regardless of their expressions.
The consequences could be horrendous when the techs deployed in public spaces, policing, and hiring.
In addition, there are countless variables to consider when analyzing emotional reactions.
Reactions to sports could depend, for example, on their level of coverage.
Ultimately, the study makes dubious generalizations about individual reactions.
Its also demonstrably incorrect: tennis is objectively a boring sport.
Yes, I said objectively.
Story byThomas Macaulay
Thomas is the managing editor of TNW.
He leads our coverage of European tech and oversees our talented team of writers.
Away from work, he e(show all)Thomas is the managing editor of TNW.
He leads our coverage of European tech and oversees our talented team of writers.
Away from work, he enjoys playing chess (badly) and the guitar (even worse).
