You’re familiar with the phrase Gotta Catch Them All, well in this case it’s Gotta Scam Them All because of a new report out that the developer behind the popular Mobile Game, Pokémon GO has been caught training its AI Map Models using Player Data of the game’s Users.
In a new report from websites such as USA TODAY, 404 Media, and the Developer’s website, Niantic has been building an AI model to map the physical world to build a Large Geospatial Model and would utilize data collected from players to “achieve spatial intelligence.” Their model has also been training and processing data using geolocation information from scans players submit of those real-world locations while playing Pokémon Go and other Niantic games.
What is Pokémon GO?
Pokémon GO is an Augmented Reality mobile game where players can use their cell phones to find and catch virtual Pokémon in the Real World. The game currently has over 600+ Million downloads since its release, players can also collect items at PokéStops and battle at gyms, which are both located at real-world landmarks.
Over the past five years, Niantic has focused on building our Visual Positioning System (VPS), which uses a single image from a phone to determine its position and orientation using a 3D map built from people scanning interesting locations in our games and Scaniverse.
Eric Brachmann and Victor Adrian Prisacariu, Niantic
Niantic also went on to mention that the data was unique since it was taken from a “pedestrian perspective,” unlike other mapping systems that rely on images captured by vehicles and may not include places inaccessible to cars. While discussing this subject, USA TODAY had an exclusive interview with Anton Dahbura, the executive director of the Information Security Institute at Johns Hopkins University, who mentioned that Companies looking for more ways to utilize customer data is becoming the “new normal.” The company said it currently has 10 million scanned locations from around the world for use with its VPS, with about 1 million new scans each week. Also, according to 404 Media, a comment was made by Brian McClendon, Niantic’s Senior Vice President of Engineering, formerly the Co-Creator of Google Earth, Maps, and Street View regarding the Government and Militaries possibly buying Niantic geospatial AI trained on player data, but the company said it’s still early days. After it was revealed that the company has been using Players’ Data from their games to train their AI Model, the company has been trying to do damage control and assure the public that it was “Optional,” and that the scans building this model are entirely opt-in, and are currently focused on training the AI model to deliver a better player experience.
We use player-contributed scans of public real-world locations to help build our Large Geospatial Model. This scanning feature is completely optional – people have to visit a specific publicly accessible location and click to scan. This allows Niantic to deliver new types of AR experiences for people to enjoy. Merely walking around playing our games does not train an AI model.
In this writer’s honest opinion, Niantic’s deceptive tactics and actions have come to light, it will taint the trust between the company and its customer base. People have been playing Pokémon GO for 8 years, yes, you can opt out of the feature now, but what about those who haven’t touched the game in years? The public is already cautious about Artificial Intelligence, which this feeling will now carry over when playing Pokémon Go.
Source: Niantic, USA TODAY, IGN, 404 Media (1,2)
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