AI & Machine LearningAI Security

The Panda That Became a Gibbon

Invisible changes can fool image recognition completely

A panda photo gets a change no eye can see. So why does an AI suddenly swear it's looking at a gibbon?

You'll find out

  • How an invisible change fools an AI
  • How stickers fooled a sign reader
  • How an AI learns to resist the trick

Why it matters

AI reads photos, signs and faces for you every day. How it can be fooled shows why it still needs checking.

About 3 min6 interactive slides · 5 questionsLesson 229 · Zone 26

Play this lesson

Free to play in your browser or on iPhone

More in this zone

  1. 226AlgorithmsThe Paint BucketFilling a shape is a graph search in disguise
  2. 227Sound DesignThe Foley ArtistMovie punches are often celery and leather jackets
  3. 228Internet HistoryThe First SpamIn 1978 an ad was emailed to 400 people, and they were furious
  4. 230Motion IllusionsThe Flash-Lag IllusionMoving things look ahead of where they really are
  5. 231SpaceflightWhy Rockets Launch EastEarth's spin gives every rocket a free push
  6. 232Applied MathematicsThe Wobbly BridgeLondon's Millennium Bridge swayed because walkers fell into step
  7. 233GeometryOnly Five Perfect DiceThere are exactly five shapes with identical regular faces
  8. 234Cloud ComputingThe Cloud Is a BuildingYour photos live in giant warehouses full of humming computers