Introducing Be My Eyes' Virtual Volunteer: A Demonstration of Some Game Changing Real-World Use Cases

Interestingly, content moderation appears to be inconsistent. I tried taking a photo of my dog of all things, and it came back and said that the picture cannot be described due to community guidelines and content moderation bla bla bla. However, when I took another photo, same camera focus, exact same photo, be my AI described him.
so not only is this horribly limitting and unjustly descriminating against us, it is also buggy.
If nothing gets done to address this issue, I want to help create some sort of advocacy to help address this with some solutions put forth by open AI directly as to what kind of exception they can make specific to this service.

Now they get in the act of us not being able to get a description. What next the house!!

About the facebook thing, probably some legality bs.

In one of the photos of my wife who was in a bikini, I tried to get a closer description of the photo. When I tried, the app told me, I am a respectful AI and want to preserve the private affairs and privacy of the person in photos. My wife, who was there listening to the description started laughing and said, if I wanted my privacy preserved, why would I be posing in a bikini, on a beach with my photo taken.

Good news! Today i tried identify a picture. AND you no what??? Be my AI can describe the faces in that picture. Try that!!!

While I am grateful be my AI is now able to describe faces, for me at least, the much bigger issue appears to be the arbitrary designation of photos and or questions that it deems to be inappropriate or offensive. Is there any timeline available where this can be addressed?

At least on their end, from what I understand; it's using gpt4 and those who make that software would probably have to tweek it to remove these messages about offencive content.

Whether it’s Open AI or Be My Eyes. We have to remember these are companies who probably don’t want to get cancelled so might be a little risk averse. From my point of view, I think back to not long ago and compare that to where we are now and yeh, I’d like a few things to be different but my god have we got it better than we ever did before. I’d rather focus on that than the edge case I wish it covered. Nudity isn’t a problem to me in fact I can’t think of anything at all that would be but I’m not everyone and it only takes one person getting offended for a big story to break that could do real damage. We’ve got it so good people. Better than ever before. We’ve even got faces back. I’m not getting hung up on it not describing sex toys, partial nudity and explicit content. It would be great if it did but I’m not going to let perfection be the enemy of great.

Looks like we are children and they are our parents telling us what we can and can not get describe to us.

What concerns me the most is the amount of those of us who think it's perfectly okay that things are how it is and that we should be grateful for what we have. I do not subscribe to this line of thinking and believe it to be entirely detrimental to advocacy and to insure blind individuals are taken seriously.
I completely understand the nature of open AI and their desire to not get negative publicity over so called adult content. What strikes me as being problematic however is the subjective nature of what is adult content. To me, adult content may be entirely different than what you would consider to be adult content. Hence why I said arbitrary, as it is clearly relying on a very narrow interpretation with absolutely no room for flexibility. And yes, I agree with the previous poster. If we just lay down and just be grateful with what we have now, we will continue to let others, abled bodied people who have no concept of blindness continue to dictate to us what is and isn't appropriate for us, with no input from us what so ever. Not only is this subjugation, it strips us of our voice and may be a dangerous precedent. In short, we have just as much right to adult content as anyone else who can just open up their photos and view them.

I don't care enough to do anything about it. If you do, all the power to you.

The fact that what is considered okay by one person might be considered completely outrageous by another. In other words peoples standards are as you said, arbitrary. There’s no line thats safe because someone with something to prove can always come along and say thats absolutely outrageous when everyone else thinks it’s just a human body. Offence taking isn’t predictable and companies are beholden to the lowest someone is willing to go. The perfect example is Apple. They don’t allow anything overtly sexual in their App Store but are fine with Grinder. It’s all arbitrary but it’s an argument I’m never going to get my way so I’d rather spend my mental energy on something that has a chance of changing. My opinion is that Be My AI should be able to describe anything the human eye can see but thats just not realistic. The more sensible fight would be to take Apple to task as they are an established monopoly with massive power. Open aI will probably be one day but they just aren’t right now. Not in the same way as Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, etc.

You guys always want more of something that’s free to use by a company who was kind enough to do this amazing app for us… you guys can’t have it all. Go make your own AI app then “see” nudity.
It’s like you guys are missing the big picture here. And that picture doesn’t have nothing at all to do with being treated like a child and nudity.
It’s simple, if you don’t like what the app can’t do then don’t use it, but that’s obviously not the case.
I love be my AI! It’s pretty cool right out the gate but I’m sure it’s going to improve for what I need it for. Thanks Be My Eyes. i’m grateful unlike some people. Hoping y’all have fun, making your own AI app! I’m looking forward to that being on here! Haha!

That is your view. Just because you disagree does not mean that we are wrong. Sighted people do not need to concern about this.

I spent the weekend in a hotel, and after I let my sighted guide retire for the evening, I realized I had not asked for help adjusting the thermostat. And it was cold enough in that hotel room to preserve a dead body. I performed an initial tactile inspection of the thermostat, but couldn't find any obvious controls. So I brought out my phone and pointed Be My Eyes at the thermostat. The initial description didn't provide enough information for me to actually change the temperature. So I asked it, "what do I need to do to make it warmer". I wish I had captured its exact response. But the gist was that it was not allowed to provide that information due to some kind of safety constraint.

So I contacted a live volunteer, of course. And it turned out the thermostat actually had simple tactile up and down buttons. They were even shaped like arrows. I missed them in my initial tactile inspection (it was a long day, folks).

I can almost understand that there might be some safety issues that Be My AI wants to steer clear of. But what I can't understand is why it failed to tell me about the tactile up and down arrows in the initial description.

Still, this tech is amazing. We are going in the right direction.

I'm mostly writing this to see if anyone else has had similar thoughts. When taking a picture and using the "ask more" button, you can add images to that specific chat. I'd like to be able to add pictures from the gallery as well. Additionally, imagine if one day this could describe videos?

Actually, for describing videos, usually I using screenshot to do this. After taking several screenshot, I will more understand about the video that I’ve watched.

Holger Fiallo
Like I mentioned already, if you think you can do a better app then let’s see it! All these complaints and misguided aggravation with an app that you didn’t make should be used toward making your own app with that same energy. You could’ve already made that app by now, but here you are angry with me and a free app. Ugh! Anyways, did you really think these wonderful inventors were actually thinking about you getting adult content described for a small minded bunch of sexually frustrating blind guys? Nope! It’s not looking good when you compare what human eyes are capable of doing to a free family oriented app does. Wow! Have a nice day!

I understand this is an app for everyone but there could be an NSFW switch you could turn on to access NSFW stuff.
If you're going to give people the ability to have things described to them then there should be nothing wrong with sexual images being described.

I agree there should just be a NSFW/allow adult content switch. That would allow the user to decide what they find acceptable. I’m really not keen on shaming blind people for being sexual beings who might want access to sexual content. We’re all sexual beings and shaming one another for that is a simple denial of reality. Some of us embrace that side of ourselves and some of us suppress it for different reasons. Judging either side doesn’t seem like a great idea. The problem is we’ve never really had access to that kind of information without it being described to us by partners etc. It’s a pretty tempting thing to chase hard after because it’s such a central part of the human condition and it’s finally within reach. I don’t agree with going too hard though and throwing toys out the pram just because it’s something we might want really badly. What we have now through Be My AI is vastly better than anything we’ve had before. Obviously Be My Eyes are aware theres a strong desire for some people to have access to this basic information but on the other side of that argument is the times we’re living in. Maybe in sensible times where social media isn’t being weaponised to punish whoever everyone has decided to go after today it would be easy to make a sensible argument that blind people have the right to access the same information as everyone else and this is now finally possible which is a small step toward true equality and should be celebrated but thats something Be My Eyes are going to have to work out for themselves, we can have input and express our desires but at the end of the day they are a company who have to weigh risk. I personally think this will happen in time. It seems inevitable but it might take a while to get there.

I find when someone starts to call someone names or label the person, they lost any high ground or argument. Take care and have a nice day. See how nice I am and did not even label you.

Holger Fiallo, don't worry - some people are just like that, and they spread this type of anger-mongering and negativity on X, Mastodon, email groups, Applevis, etc. And what a ludicrous argument! So should I go learn app development if I don't like something in an app? It's like saying go cure your visual impairment if you don't like it! Not all of us can, or want, to learn/write code. But if these apps are developed for us, we do have the right to list the positives, negatives and shortcomings. I don't get what certain dudes mean by defending app developers more than what they themselves ask for.

A large segment of society feels scared and threatened by AI. Whether this fear is justified or stems from news outlets spoon-feeding hyperbolic content to an uninformed public doesn't matter. The result is the same. The fear is present, and governments are under enormous pressure to limit, restrict, or outright ban access to AI.

Let's not give these luddites any ammo they can use against us. All it takes is one news article about one underage kid who used Be My AI to peek at his big brothers girlie mag, and we could see this wonderful, powerful, amazing technology kneecapped back to the stone age, leaving us with slate and stylus for our tech.
Also, if Be My AI proves to be successful, it is only the first of several similar services and technologies. It's easy to imagine one with a paid option that removes much of the restrictions we see with BMA.

Hi folks,
This has actually gotten worse. I had a photo the other day which was being described beautifully. It was a family portrait of my nephew holding his dog in his arms and smiling. It even described his beauytiful smile.
Now, when I go back to redescribe this photo, I get the following message,
The image you've provided is a placeholder that says "This image was blocked because it may contain sensitive content". There is no actual picture to describe, it's just a message indicating that the content was blocked.
What, is even going on now.

I don't know what went wrong here but at least for me, I'm now getting this with all photos, no matter what they are. These photos, as of the last 4 hours were all being described by be my AI with absolutely no issues. These exact same photos are now all saying,
The image you've provided is a placeholder that says "This image was blocked because it may contain sensitive content". There is no actual picture to describe, it's just a message indicating that the content was blocked.
This is the standard message I'm getting for everything, even a birthday card sent by my grandmother to me.

It seems to be doing this with all shared photos so I'm guessing possibly a bug or something. As far as the argument goes if we continue to complain they might take it away from us.

I’m not so sure about humans. I got the same message as well.
It got everything right about my dog though. I was surprised he didn’t even told me its name.

Possibly the recent enabling of faces was actually a bug with Open AI. Be My Eyes weren’t aware of the change until it happened. Maybe now Open AI know faces are working again this is the temporary fix. To completely reject anything with a face in it. It’s a real shame.

I know the app devs said it was free but Open.AI isn't so I'd not be surprised if they have peple who use the app pay for it.

I don't want to be all doom and gloom but the company isn't a free company, unless you get the demo but that runs out.

If I'm wrong, that's great for those that use it.

It's wierd about the app having that stock message though, perhaps it's a bug like someone said on here.

If I can get the descriptions without all the big brother content moderation and community guideline stuff, I'd be more than happy to pay for full access.

This isn’t something Be My Eyes are even considering. They are committed to keeping the app free, thats the whole point of it. They have other revenue streams that they use to subsidise Be My AI. I wouldn’t be surprised to see premium features at some point in the future like high bandwidth video with interactive voice AI but I don’t have any knowledge of their plans. All I do know is they are committed to providing this service free to use as a way of empowering blind people.

The strange thing is, I'd tried bing chat once faces started working, and that was still blurring faces.

I got access a few weeks ago and I am very impressed so far! I shared a screenshot of my iPad homescreen and it described what all the app icons look like and the layout as well. I took a math answer sheet that I typed up for a Calculus assignment in LaTeX a few years ago, and converted the PDF to images and sent them to Be My AI, and I was amazed at the results! It read all the equations including integrals, fractions, and roots, and although it made a few small mistakes, this is so far ahead of any other OCR program since OCR always gives terrible results for math. It was even able to give me the equations in LaTeX When I asked, and it almost exactly matched my source code. I also gave it a complex graph that I made for an Economics class, with multiple lines, labeled points, a grid, axis labels, etc, and it described all the elements very well. The only thing it got wrong is when I asked it where on the grid the points are it got the coordinates wrong. I also gave it illustrations from a book, some of which have handwritten text, and it mostly read the handwritten text correctly as well! I gave it a few maps of Middle Earth, and it was able to describe where the different regions are in relation to each other, and I could ask it for more detail, like which regions are around a certain region, what is to the north of it, etc. I also gave it a few screenshots of pretty complex video games that some people sent me, and it described them extremely well, only making a few mistakes mostly with telling me coordinates for things, which seems to be a general problem with this AI.

I didn't know they had other things they were doing.

as for the faces thing, that's on bgt4s' end, I don't think the apps that use the AI can do much about that. From what I remember open.ai is quite restrictive when it comes to this stuff.

I'm glad people are getting amazing results with this app. As for me, I'm going to wait for an AI maps app for the blind or sighted that works with voicesover, imagine something that could truely see what's there and let you know. I don't think we're that far off from that app/device, as others have said, it's truely exciting times.

I am not about to waste my positive outlook and energy going back-and-forth with that nonsense. However, I said what I said. Where’s the app you guys should have to replace it? The one that does a better job? Hmm!
Well until that happens keep wasting your energy complaining about a nice free project these nice people did for us!
Looks like they read these comments and see how ungrateful you guys are and took away a great tool now!
I recall how it was nice to have them add facial recognition after how I mentioned how grateful I am for having Be My AI then it came back.
Now look at what happened in a few hours. It’s your fault it’s worse. Haha!
Anyways, Be My Eyes was helpful to me earlier when I needed assistance locating a delete key on my new wireless keyboard, so I can label it with a bump dot and the woman was so kind and helpful. I just got a brand new desktop computer from Computers For The Blind. Thank you Blind services for getting me this new desktop so I can find me a work from home job and the wonderful volunteer who helped me today was amazing. Yay!

I don’t resort to name-calling.. there was no name-calling. However, when you have attributes and personality traits that display what type of person you are, I’m going off of that…
I am not the one to blame for your personality or behavior.

Be My AI was working wonderful this morning. I am hoping they will fix this. I’m praying they will fix it soon. Such a joyful experience using it!

Hi folks, have you tried to send a feedback to B my eyes for this annoying bug? Because, if we only discuss this topic on this thread, Be My Eyes won’t realise what happened with their application. I have sent my feedback, but has not get any responses..

I just tested photo descriptions on bing chat and over there, photos are still being described with the exception of faces. Faces are still being blocked.

I’ve already flagged it in the beta testing Slack channel. They are aware of the ongoing issues with faces and I think they are as frustrated as we are. They are working to get through it though. They have 2 strategies I’m aware of so fingers crossed. They are doing everything they can but this goes way above what they have direct control over.

This stuff is on chat gpt's end, which I've been calling bgt all this time.

I'm probably not going to use the app again for a long time but I don't think there'll be much they can do. Open AI has a very safe way of viewing things.

People have unlocked that safety but that's on other moddles. Maybe they'll move to another moddle. They might even move to an open saurce one for free.

The downside to that is the pictures might not be described as well but on their end at least it would be free. I might send them an email mentioning that there's open saurse versions of this stufff now, what do you think, is it worth it?

I sent Be my AI a photo of a screenshot from my dating profile from a person who liked my profile, and it described the dating profile accurately then I did it again for another one and it had that message, I tried it again and it did the same message about having a placeholder over the image.
…it needs to have consistency in order for us to use it. It’s got to stay working properly for us!
Hoping they have a solution soon! I miss that image described of faces! 😩

Like I mentioned already, if you think you can do a better app then let’s see it! All these complaints and misguided aggravation with an app that you didn’t make should be used toward making your own app with that same energy. You could’ve already made that app by now…
Your words not mine. they are written some comments above this one.
So be grateful it at least has some consistency, and, for good measure, send a prayer to whatever Almighty God you believe in, along with the picture for it to describe your future partner or whatever.
I don’t mean to be confrontational, I only wish to point out that each person has their own needs and requirements. have a nice day.

I have saved a whole lot of memes over the years in a certain album and went through them this morning and it described a lot of them so well and made me laugh! I’m definitely grateful to have had that experience this morning. Some of them had that placeholder message on them but that’s OK. Also, like I mentioned already, I am grateful for the app, and have had amazing success with it, but to try to rationalize the inappropriate content with what I said is just not even ammunition to me but a laughable attempt that is not even justified...
have a wonderful day.

To this point you are free to think whatever. As I stated before those who use anger or call others name lost the argument. Enjoy the day and watch the apple event. Be safe. See how it is done!!! Nice and polite.

Because I don’t agree with your opinions about what’s appropriate for a family oriented app then you want to antagonize me which is just ridiculous but I called a spade a spade and there’s nothing wrong with that. This is not about me agreeing with anyone actually, but what’s right for the outcome of this app.
Honestly, I have no problems with anyone on this site. I have found a lot of humor in a lot of these comments, so thank you.
You don’t have to like me or agree with me, but I like me and I agree with me.
Have a fantastic day and enjoy that apple event.

Or it shouldn’t be, at least. I believe it is an app for the blind and visually impaired. Of course, the safety and well-being of minors who are blind or visually impaired should be of the utmost importance, and by all means, the necessary steps to ensure this safety and well-being should be taken.
On the other hand, for an adult like me, and I suppose like you, the decision about what or what not to watch should be neither that of the AI nor the developers. Sighted people can look at and see whatever they want, no matter how cruel or indecent it might be. Since there is the technology to do it, the same should apply to the blind and visually impaired.
In my humble opinion, it’s not about the content in question, but about who decides to allow or block the content.
Furthermore, I think that it’s important to recognize that access to a wide range of content is not only crucial for the intellectual and cultural development of individuals, including those who are blind or visually impaired, but it’s also recognized as a fundamental right in most democracies around the world. Limiting their choices based on assumptions about what is appropriate for them can be patronizing and restrict their ability to make informed decisions about the media they consume, but it also violates most legal texts I know of.
Finally I have one question for you guys. If I send a picture with illegal drugs in it, should whoever is in charge report me to the authorities? food for thought.

Do not waist your time. People want companies to do the parenting instead of them. If is about protecting kids is the parents responsibility. It is call being a adult some are not. Long live the Apple.

I don't know what their specific policies are, but ethically speaking, I don't think BME, Open AI, or other assistive app developers and partners should be in the business of reporting their users to the authorities just because the AI detected a picture that it thinks contains illegal drugs or drug paraphernalia. The inherent imperfection of AI, potential biases of human reviewers, and the harm that entrapment in a penal system can bring would make such a venture, in my opinion, terribly misguided.
That said, because AI is naturally imperfect and somewhat prone to misidentifying items in pictures, or even outright hallucinating, it should not be relied on in the making of decisions or determinations that could risk your safety.

The image you've provided is a placeholder that says "This image was blocked because it may contain sensitive content". There is no actual picture to describe, it's just a message indicating that the content was blocked.
I really hope this is fixed soon but there’s obviously an issue but I have tried older and newer pictures but I get the same error message. I have sent my feedback anyway.

I see this from a different perspective than people who were born blind, or have been visually impaired most of their lives, and I totally understand your point of view, however, getting an artificial intelligence app designed to assist blind/Visually impaired people in their daily lives should have nothing at all to do with Describing material that is adult explicit. And yes, because there are underage people who are using this app the AI/open AI should definitely decipher this type of material for those users of this app. And I totally understand that there should be a way for adults who want that type of material to scribe, but they are not going to do that, and they should not have to do that for certain group of individuals who want that. Hahaha! I’m over that conversation and you should be also because as an adult you should already understand this.
I personally have no interest in having an artificial intelligence describe any type of adult material to me,.. it would be absolutely weird to me. Haha!
I’m just hoping they come up with an explanation to us why it’s not able to describe faces like it had been doing for the last couple of days and why it has all of a sudden stopped… they give us a little and then they take a little away…That’s the only thing that’s frustrating about this. It’s worse now though…