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Microsoft's New Website Tries to Guess How Old You Are from Your Photo

| May 01, 2015 09:43 AM EDT

How-Old.net got people's ages wrong, but all is just for laughs.

Microsoft's got a new website that's good for a lot of laughs because accurate it isn't. At least not yet.

Microsoft's How-Old.net tries guesses your age by having a facial recognition algorithm scan your photograph, or any photograph you might want to tease the algorithm with. Try anyone.

And what good is it to you? It tells you how a machine sees your age, which might sometimes be the way people see your age when they look at your photo.

It's a great way to have a laugh and to waste time. You'll never run out of celebs to fool around with, by the way.

It's flattering if the algorithm gets your age right and you'll wind up swearing if it gets it wrong.

We had the software guess the age of Barack Obama (he's really 53), Hillary Clinton (she's really 67) and our favorite Hutt, Jabba (a few hundred years old).

The algorithm said Obama was 44, Hillary, 59 and as for Jabba, the algorithm "Couldn't detect a face". One out of three is OK, I guess.

What this test apparently proves is the algorithm thinks you're younger if you smile and don't have too many lines on your face. That's a good tip for the real world anytime.

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