Chinese scientists develop helmet that sounds alarm when men are watching porn

Chinese scientists say the have developed a device that can detect when a man is watching pornography, which is illegal in China.

The team from Jiao Tong University in Beijing recorded the brain waves of 15 men between ages 20 and 25 to a series of “graphic images,” then analyzed them with a “deep-learninig” artificial intelligence program, The Times of London reported Monday.

The scientists used the results to create a helmet-like device that can identify when a pornographic image or video is viewed by its wearer – and sound an alarm.

The team says the helmet can help Beijing’s jian huang shi – the government’s “porn appraisers” – supplement existing AI-only systems that scrape the internet indiscriminately with human observers.

Existing systems “cannot rapidly identify pornographic images when the scenarios are changing, but human brains can identify such images within a very short period of time,” the researchers wrote, according to The Times.

“Therefore, on the basis of EEG [electroencephalogram] signals, we can combine human visuals with machine learning to solve the problems.”

Researchers admitted there were some limitations to their experience due to the legal status of porn in China. They struggled to find sufficient “training material” and had to cover up to most sensitive areas of the pornographic images they did use to meet legal requirements, which could reduce the visual impact, reports The Times.

The scientists did not suggest the helmets be used by ordinary citizens, but other Chinese researchers have expressed its ethical implications.

“There is no law to regulate the use of such devices or protect the data they collected,” a cybernetics specialist from the University of Science and Technology of China in Hefei told the South China Morning Post, on condition of anonymity.