Google AI search miss-identified me and two other Māori man with a public profile. Mr Brian Dickey KC of Waikato-Tainui (Ngāti Maahanga), Mr Kingi Snelgar (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Whakaue, Te Whakatōhea and Ngāi Tahu) and me, Karaitiana Taiuru (Ngāi Tahu, Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngāti Toa) images have been interchanged as me.
The first experiment with Google Image Search I typed “Dr Taiuru” and then selecting the AI mode produced startling results.
While the standard search produced many photos of myself from my publications and approved media articles, there was a image that Google purported was me in the AI mode search results.
Using the ‘Search with Google Lens” option with the image of the person in the red box above, an AI generated side box provided the following information:
“AI Overview –
The image shows Brian Dickey, a prominent New Zealand lawyer.
Brian Dickey is recognized as one of Aotearoa New Zealand’s most senior litigators and dispute-resolution specialists.
He previously served as the Crown Solicitor for Auckland, where he oversaw the prosecution of serious crimes and personally led high-profile cases, including the Grace Millane murder trial.
Currently, he is a barrister at Bankside Chambers, focusing on commercial litigation and front-line advocacy for complex cases.
Dickey was appointed Chief Crown Negotiator for Treaty of Waitangi claims for the Ngāpuhi and Hauraki groups by the Coalition Government.
He has a long and distinguished career in major criminal, commercial, and civil litigation, with over 30 years of experience in the New Zealand courts system”.
To verify the image is Brian Dickey, I visited the web Bankside Chambers web site and verified that the other image is indeed Brian Dickey who is also of Māori descent, but the authoritative web site also stated that Mr Dickey is also a Kings Council.
I then asked Google to do a “Dive Deeper in AI mode” and got the following, noting the image of me is in fact Mr Dickey.
My next experiment used my name “Karaitiana Taiuru”. The following is the output:
The person in the image is Kingi Snelgar a criminal defence lawyer, youth advocate and academic based in Auckland, New Zealand.
Conclusion
This reinforces the need for human checking AI produced outputs, including images. It also again highlights the need for specialised bias training with human beings that are checking Facial Recognition Technology (FRT) positives hits.