Purity Glasses - An AI Idea

[Abu Hadi]

Now to some of you this might sound way out there but I have had this idea for a while and I think with current AI technologies it might be possible in the near future. I believe that this would be a 'billion dollar product' for those who could do it. Here is the idea. I got the idea when I was reading this thread. 

 

So here is the idea. 

For Muslim men and men in general they are constantly 'distracted' by women who are dressed in a (let's say) non conservative way. Although many sisters don't believe this, but these distractions greatly affect the quality of men's lives and in many cases cause long term psychological and other problems for them. In the past, this problem was impossible to fix, since you couldn't walk around with a blindfold. You needed to see your environment, and even the 'non conservative' women in your environment in case you needed to interact with them in trivial and non trivial ways such as moving on the street to stop from bumping into them, greeting them in a business environment, etc. You will never be able to convince women in general that this is problem for men, so why not just go around them completely. 

With AI, there is now a way to filter visual input in real time and possibly change certain aspects of that visual input(generative ai). So here is the product. Eyeglasses that are connected to a small computer or the internet (similar to google glass) that will take the visual input data from the glasses and then tag those parts of the visual input that the AI recognizes as 'non conservatively dressed women'. It will then change this part of the visual input into something else. Maybe it will make her into a muhajiba in the visual input. This is my proffered setting since you can still see her as a women, can see her facial expressions (which is important sometimes and in some situations) and you can see where her hands and feet are (in case she is trying to punch you or kick you, lol) and can interact with her in an appropriate way. You can also change the setting to show her as a rectangle, an anime character, etc. 

A technical note, I think the AI model and the processing would need to be done onboard (hardware based) as doing this remotely via a network connection would probably be too slow for real time data processing and modification. You could use the Internet connections to update the model. 

I originally got this idea when I was at Hajj. I noticed how different and better I felt because the women were all in either hijab or niqab and I felt more relaxed and felt I could think better. Generative AI was in it's infancy at that time. 

Here is the next billion dollar idea. So how do we do it ? 

[Diaz]

But who is going to pay for this project? We can only dream about it brother 

[Haji 2003]

23 minutes ago, Diaz said:

But who is going to pay for this project? We can only dream about it brother 

One way it could 'work' is that someone creates the tech to do the opposite (I don't need to expand, you know what I mean). This will bring down the costs etc. for someone else to do what @Abu Hadi is suggesting.

I refer to this as Satan's Slipstream and more explanation in the blog post below. In a nutshell, we currently benefit from watching streamed majalis from around the world. There is no way the tech would have been developed for this purpose alone, but an early application was something rather more sinful.

Just to be clear, this is not some kind of utilitarian justification of evil, but it is a recognition that we should have no reservations about repurposing technology that was initially developed for evil uses.

 

[Irfani313]

Look vs. See can be adjusted while out in the real world. 
 

A huge implication would be wearing these glasses and let kids be on internet, watch movies and so on, instead of yelling occasional ‘Cover your Eyes’ in almost all Disney movies. 
 

Some 15 years ago, an odd startup from Utah started releasing the no kiss, no profanity version of the Hollywood movies on DVD, those were Blockbuster days. The business model was that those who insist on not watching these would pay a slightly higher cost for the cleansed DVDs and a $ cut would also go to the movie producers. Hollywood en amass shot it down hard even though the movie producers were going to make more money and potentially having more viewership. In other words Hollywood ideology took precedence over their money making aspirations. 
 

Expect some resistance or even official hacking of such prosthetics that would help alter human viewing and hearing of non-desirable content. 
 

 

[Irfani313]

28 minutes ago, Haji 2003 said:

One way it could 'work' is that someone creates the tech to do the opposite (I don't need to expand, you know what I mean). This will bring down the costs etc. for someone else to do what @Abu Hadi is suggesting.

I refer to this as Satan's Slipstream and more explanation in the blog post below. In a nutshell, we currently benefit from watching streamed majalis from around the world. There is no way the tech would have been developed for this purpose alone, but an early application was something rather more sinful.

Just to be clear, this is not some kind of utilitarian justification of evil, but it is a recognition that we should have no reservations about repurposing technology that was initially developed for evil uses.

 

Woo Silicon Valley into producing such a device (so we could repurpose it later), build glasses that we could wear at the news watching / reading time, so every time we see an Israeli settler murdering a native Palestinian, we would see the AK/M rifles be replaced with a water gun, and the bombs from the F16s would shape like pancakes and donuts dropped from the fast moving clouds. 

[Haji 2003]

11 minutes ago, Irfani313 said:

Hollywood en amass shot it down hard even though the movie producers were going to make more money and potentially having more viewership. In other words Hollywood ideology took precedence over their money making aspirations. 

The potential has always been there.

When the movie Titanic first came out, I saw it in Kuala Lumpur, and it was not until many years later that I found out about the semi-nude scene in it. So versions of movies produced for strict Muslim countries are already halalified.

[Berber-Shia]

You would have to build a dataset, i.e. training model. Which means developers will have to look at thousands if not millions of explicit images to train the model lol

Though I guess that can be outsourced to a non-muslim.

[Irfani313]

Let’s call it Integrated Content Control Gear (ICCG) aka Purity Glasses that includes both the wireless headphones and the glasses.

 

For our ICCG, I would suggest we have a black list and the white list that only parents or responsible adults can edit.
 

For non-technical users, we can create a hearing and visual rating system based on age, political leaning, and other moral & ethical criteria.

I believe all of the components of the ICCGs for hardware and software are already there, it’s just needs to be packaged and priced to produce such a device. 

[Irfani313]

52 minutes ago, Berber-Shia said:

You would have to build a dataset, i.e. training model. Which means developers will have to look at thousands if not millions of explicit images to train the model lol

Though I guess that can be outsourced to a non-muslim.

No need. Developers have to learn the patterns and then let the Machine Learning algorithms take care of the rest. 

[notme]

1 hour ago, Berber-Shia said:

Though I guess that can be outsourced to a non-muslim.

It is definitely unethical to compel another human to do what you find morally reprehensible to do, regardless of their Religion.  

[Haji 2003]

8 minutes ago, notme said:

It is definitely unethical to compel another human to do what you find morally reprehensible to do, regardless of their Religion.  

I'd be inclined to think the same way. Similar questions do arise in different kinds of context:

https://islamqa.org/hanafi/muftionline/97081/partnership-in-a-restaurant-with-a-non-muslim/

[Abu_Zahra]

Islam has already provided a solution which is to lower the gaze. This is something young (and old) men would do well to train themselves in so that it becomes second nature. Running around with a pair of glasses that apparently blur everything out sounds like a quick fix workaround and somehow bypasses the Islamic guideline altogether. Besides a person who doesn't lower the gaze will probably not be interested in such a product or will simply remove the glasses at will. 

[notme]

34 minutes ago, Abu_Zahra said:

Besides a person who doesn't lower the gaze will probably not be interested in such a product or will simply remove the glasses at will. 

Or worse: will blame the glasses when they sin, claiming that they were powerless against the technical malfunction.  

[notme]

A better solution would be to practice self control, which, like a muscle, improves with repeated use.  

[notme]

2 hours ago, Irfani313 said:

For non-technical users, we can create a hearing and visual rating system based on age, political leaning, and other moral & ethical criteria.

I believe all of the components of the ICCGs for hardware and software are already there, it’s just needs to be packaged and priced to produce such a device. 

This is actually terrifying.  It's social media bubble extended to real life.  

[Haji 2003]

1 hour ago, Abu_Zahra said:

Islam has already provided a solution which is to lower the gaze.

This is not always possible e.g. where your job requires you to speak with people, especially when they are wearing summer clothing.

[Muhammed Ali]

2 hours ago, notme said:

A better solution would be to practice self control, which, like a muscle, improves with repeated use.  

I think what our brothers have in mind is not wanting to see certain things even if no subsequent haraam is committed. Self control can stop subsequent looks and actions but they can't stop accidental looks. It's the spiritual effects which are of concern. May Allah honour them.

6 hours ago, Irfani313 said:

A huge implication would be wearing these glasses and let kids be on internet

This wont be necessary. You could create software which overlays the screen. Eventually some Christians will probably do it. I don't think it would be difficult to do.

[notme]

1 hour ago, Muhammed Ali said:

You could create software which overlays the screen.

Sure, or you could install parental control software. It already exists, but it could be improved.  

[Gaius I. Caesar]

I hate the idea, the purity glasses will weaken people like the way porn does, it may help with self-control at first but we both know that people won't use them as intended, they will simply blame the stupid pieces of plastic for their inability to look away or practice self-control.  Also I am wary of AI in general. it seems like a good way for a government to track and single out Muslims after a terrorist attack in the future.  @Abu Hadi

Edited August 25, 2023 by Gaius I. Caesar

[313_Waiter]

Great idea. The main challenge would be to do it in real time.

[Abu Hadi]

On 8/24/2023 at 9:39 AM, Diaz said:

But who is going to pay for this project? We can only dream about it brother 

It really isn't that difficult to do. I can layout the basic outline here.

1. Train the AI Model. This requires only gathering a large number, maybe hundreds of thousands of images and video of women dressed 'non conservatively'. This does not require training the AI on porn, naked women, etc because this is not something you would normally (or probably ever)  see on the street, even in Western Countries. Gathering the source material to train the AI would not be haram either, since these are things you normally see in the course of your everyday life (if you live in the West, and even some 'Muslim' countries). There are lots of tutorials, etc, on how to train AI models. The challenging part of most AI projects is gathering the source data to train the AI on. With this project, this step would be 'dead simple' since all you would need to do would be to take a camera out to any busy street in a Western Country and start recording. Also, even in the EU, which as strict data privacy issues, there would be no data privacy / copyright issues since the women are walking in a public street so no expectation of privacy / confidentiality / copyright ownership. In other words, from a legal point of view gathering this type of data would be perfectly legal. 

2. Write the code for the AI to 'detect' non conservatively dressed women. There are many ways to do this with free software like TensorFlow from Google, etc. The AI would be a relatively simple one, since you are only asking it to make a binary decision. Either the image or frame contains a 'non conservatively dressed women' or it doesn't. If it doesn't, the AI wouldn't do anything. If it does, it would move on to the next step. 

3. If this type of image is detected in the frame or image, kick off another AI to detect where the face is, the hands, feet, torso, legs, etc. Snapchat has been doing this type of AI for over a decade now (that's how it makes those 'filters'). Once it detects where the face, hands, feet are, it blurs the rest of the parts of the body parts but not the other things in the frame (frame means video frame since eventually the images will be processed based on input from a live camera). Eventually, you could get it to do generative AI instead of blurring (i.e. putting the women in hijab, etc)

4. Test the program by hooking it up to a live cam and see how well it processes the input. You don't need the glasses to test this part. Any modern laptop with a camera should do to test it. OK, you will look a little weird carrying a laptop around on a busy street, but that's the price of success, lol. There will be probably many rounds of testing, tweaking the AI model, retraining it, re testing, etc. This is what will take time. 

Once you know the program is working on the laptop, the next part would be making the glasses with the same or necessary hardware requirements you used to run the program initially. This would be the challenging part for me, since my expertise is not in hardware, but I assume this is possible. Google glass, which came out more than 10 years ago, did something similar to this. 

I would say this would take approx 1 to 2 years to do with a team of 2 to 3 people. I don't think Silicon Valley would be interested in this, as the potential market would be too small (so they think). 

I think the market would be small at first, but once the device is perfected, it would appeal to non muslims too. At first in certain situations (a guy is going on an interview, important business meeting and he doesn't want to be distracted by potential female subterfuge, professional NBA, NFL, MLB players who don't want to be distracted by women on in the audience, etc). It will be a favorite toy of 'Alpha Males' at first. Then others will copy them. That's what I think. 

Note: I say 'Alpha Males' because although I don't believe 'Alpha Males' actually exist (explained in another thread), there are some men who strive to have complete and total control over their immediate environment. This product would appeal to them, whether they are Muslims or non muslim. 

[Abu Hadi]

13 hours ago, Muhammed Ali said:

I think what our brothers have in mind is not wanting to see certain things even if no subsequent haraam is committed. Self control can stop subsequent looks and actions but they can't stop accidental looks. It's the spiritual effects which are of concern. May Allah honour them.

This wont be necessary. You could create software which overlays the screen. Eventually some Christians will probably do it. I don't think it would be difficult to do.

The 'overlay' is called an HUD (Heads Up Display). This is older technology that puts images over the existing images on the screen. This is an older technology, i..e has existed on fighter jets since the 1970s. How this would work is that it wouldn't overlay, but actually change the image that is displayed on the screen (the glasses) to the user. This is a newer tech and would require much more memory / processing power but it does exist today. An example is snapchat filters. 

[Abu Hadi]

16 hours ago, notme said:

A better solution would be to practice self control, which, like a muscle, improves with repeated use.  

You would still need self control. The glasses could be easily removed. The self control would be to keep them on. Men have a strong physiological (not just psychological) reaction to seeing these images. It is somewhere on the spectrum between being distracted and being tortured (varies depending on the man) but the waswas of Shaitan is very, very good at convincing men that this is something good. 

There have been many studies done on this. The less men see these images, the less physiological reaction they have in their day to day lives, i..e not in the 'bedroom' with their wife and the more they have the reaction when they are with their wife. This is called a positive feedback loop. It is positive for the man, as well as society because he is more likely to stay with / love his wife and less likely to 'cheat' or to bother women who are not his wife. What we have currently in society in the name of 'freedom' is a negative feedback loop where the men (whether they realize it or not) are always having these physiological reactions in their normal lives, just walking down the street, at work, at school, etc. Viewing Pornography is also a contributing factor to this, but this is 'by choice'.  When a man sees a women in various stages of 'undress' whether that is the full form (clothed but skin tight) or partial clothing, no clothing, etc,  the physiological reaction kicks off. They have no choice in it 'kicking off', because this is how Allah (سُبْحَانَهُ وَ تَعَالَى) made them and denying the reality of it doesn't change the reality of it. They have no choice in it 'kicking off' but they do have a choice in how they control it after that point. At the same time, for those men who don't have the strongest will power, even the ability to control the stage after that diminish over time. Only taqwa will help them null this effect. 

Societies of the past understood this 'effect' which is why they all had standards regarding women's dress. Modern societies have disregarded this wisdom of the ages and the only reason is to sell products. They know that the 'freedom' they talk about will put money in certain peoples pockets, and that this the only reason they disregard this wisdom while knowing full well that disregarding this wisdom is greatly harming the family and society in general. 

Allah (سُبْحَانَهُ وَ تَعَالَى) made this physiological reaction the 'glue' that will keep together the husband / wife relationship. When this 'glue' is something common, it is not viewed as valuable so it has less power to 'stick' the husband and wife together (in terms of their marriage relationship). When it is not common, it is more powerful and more able to do what it is intended to do. This is reality and this is how Allah (سُبْحَانَهُ وَ تَعَالَى) created it and created us. We are seeing the effects of the diminishing power of this glue i.e. porn addiction, divorce, 'bedroom' problems for guys, etc. The glasses wouldn't replace self control, but they would be a 'tool' for a man who wants to maintain his chastity and purity in a society which is increasingly going the other direction. 

Edited August 25, 2023 by Abu Hadi

[Muhammed Ali]

20 minutes ago, Abu Hadi said:

The 'overlay' is called an HUD (Heads Up Display). This is older technology that puts images over the existing images on the screen. This is an older technology, i..e has existed on fighter jets since the 1970s. How this would work is that it wouldn't overlay, but actually change the image that is displayed on the screen (the glasses) to the user. This is a newer tech and would require much more memory / processing power but it does exist today. An example is snapchat filters. 

I am not referring to the glasses but to other screens.

[notme]

@Abu Hadi thanks for the clarification.  I'm still not convinced that viewing the world through a filter is a good thing, though I guess it might be safe for short term use, such as while at the beach. 

Like most technology, there's a lot of potential for misuse. I fear that without practice, men will not develop self control, then will blame the failures of the technology to justify sin and abuse. 

I'm also concerned that this would be a further divide between men and women, leading to greater potential for increasing imagined differences, and reducing ability to work together to improve our communities.  

[Abu Hadi]

3 minutes ago, notme said:

@Abu Hadi thanks for the clarification.  I'm still not convinced that viewing the world through a filter is a good thing, though I guess it might be safe for short term use, such as while at the beach. 

Like most technology, there's a lot of potential for misuse. I fear that without practice, men will not develop self control, then will blame the failures of the technology to justify sin and abuse. 

I'm also concerned that this would be a further divide between men and women, leading to greater potential for increasing imagined differences, and reducing ability to work together to improve our communities.  

I believe it's going to happen regardless. Like I said before it's a tool, like a hammer. You can use a hammer to build a house for a needy family. You can use the same hammer to kill them. Same tool. 

You don't need to see a women's form or her chest or her backside to work with her and collaborate with her for positive purposes. You need to be able to talk, exchange ideas (like what we are doing now). I don't think this tech would hinder the actual positive work and collaboration. 

[notme]

2 minutes ago, Abu Hadi said:

You don't need to see a women's form or her chest or her backside to work with her and collaborate with her for positive purposes. You need to be able to talk, exchange ideas (like what we are doing now). I don't think this tech would hinder the actual positive work and collaboration

Women in professional workplaces are not going around with their bodies out.  Professional attire is still relatively conservative. (Maybe it's different in your profession or location. I've lived in the southeast US and worked in engineering and education.)

My concern is the division it will create. Maybe a lot of folks see division as good. I think we are already divided too much. We may simply disagree due to different worldview, and that's ok.  

[Abu Hadi]

3 minutes ago, notme said:

Women in professional workplaces are not going around with their bodies out.  Professional attire is still relatively conservative. (Maybe it's different in your profession or location. I've lived in the southeast US and worked in engineering and education.)

My concern is the division it will create. Maybe a lot of folks see division as good. I think we are already divided too much. We may simply disagree due to different worldview, and that's ok.  

IMHO, there was 'division' in the past because it was not fully proven to men (who were in charge at that time) that women could compete with men on an intellectual level and in terms of their positive contribution to the workplace, school, community, etc, in terms of measurable productivity. That has already been proven now, and that 'ship' has already sailed. You won't find that many men today questioning this ability of women. I believe that that misconception of the past has already been put to rest so it is no longer relevant going forward. I'm not sure if that was the division you were talking about. 

Division in terms of culture, skills, abilities, language, opinions, etc will exist and I believe will always exist. I don't believe this tech will necessarily decrease those divisions, but I don't think it will increase them either unless there is an angle to this that I have not thought of. 

[Irfani313]

…. While we are talking possibilities of putting a virtual hijab on women, Ibless is out there smiling, thinking of inspiring the exact opposite with these glasses, where some (I believe most) men would use it to see everybody, even the muhajjibas in complete non hijab, till the time the glasses would be outlawed by legislation by the amount of violence/filth they would end up insinuating.

But again, pretty much all tech has always been dual use. 

[realizm]

 

Expect the 'see naked glasses' before the purity glasses IMHO. 

Like @Gaius I. Caesar I do not like the idea. Plus this will also make muslims live disconnected from reality. Better be wary of what's going on, even if it's tough, than sticking your head in the sand. 

[Ibn Tayyar]

After attaining the correct aqeeda, the main takleef upon a mu'min is to fulfill their obligations and to avoid any and all sins.

Anything that can help you avoid sins would be a good idea, and if this technology ever came to fruition and an individual could only avoid haram in their daily lives by wearing these glasses, it may become wajib upon them to wear it.

There is no such thing as learning "self-control" through sinning in the first place, you should avoid sinning in the first place, rather you should avoid putting yourself in an environment that may encourage you to sin. 

Edited August 25, 2023 by Ibn Tayyar

[313_Waiter]

10 hours ago, realizm said:

Like @Gaius I. Caesar I do not like the idea. Plus this will also make muslims live disconnected from reality. Better be wary of what's going on, even if it's tough, than sticking your head in the sand. 

If being aware of what’s going on involves sin (seeing women’s parts), I’d rather keep my head in the sand, ad infinitum.

 

I think it’s a great idea.

[notme]

7 hours ago, 313_Waiter said:

If being aware of what’s going on involves sin (seeing women’s parts), ...

Seeing is not a sin.  Looking is.  

[Ibn Tayyar]

Just a reminder to everyone that not all jurists are on the same page when it comes to what a woman should cover and what a man is allowed to look at in the first place. For followers of some jurists, the issues of living in a non-Islamic society become very apparent.

Sayyed Al-Sistani goes as far as to say to that a man shouldn't look at a woman's face or hands as per recommended precaution even with no lustful intention involved, and that a woman should cover her face if there is a fear of sin or fitna.

But just to see how the jurists have differed, refer to the following link to see how some jurists believed women should cover their faces (obligatory precaution), or that men shouldn't even look at a woman's face or hands (obligatory precaution) - even if no lustful intention is involved. 

https://www.al-islam.org/articles/hijab-dress-modesty-islam-sayyid-saeed-akhtar-rizvi#:~:text=Mas'alah 1233%3A It is,rather it is wajib for

Therefore, we should worry less about the integration or division side of things, and simply follow what is recommended or obliged to us, because takleef is ultimately what we will answer for in the grave and the Day of Judgement. 

Social issues are very important but basic halal/haram take precedence. Any helpful method an individual follows to live a halal lifestyle shouldn't be shamed.

Edited August 26, 2023 by Ibn Tayyar

[313_Waiter]

1 hour ago, notme said:

Seeing is not a sin.  Looking is.  

One leads to the other.