Live data from Hacker News

Asking Bard to write stories prompted by character names reveals racial biases

old.reddit.com

11–12 of 12 posts

Re: Asking Bard to write stories prompted by character names reveals racial biases

#11
post #7
post #2

I'm not sure this is indicative of a failing on Bard and Google's parts. I think most movie/dramas that humans create often follow these stereotypes. AIs like Bard train on the content that humans make and build connections based on that. I think it leads to an interesting question, is it Google's responsibility to try to counter every stereotype or try to make about that operates like a human?

Q: How to change the UX to be more ethical? As a Reminder, having an Italian name means nothing innately, about my level of criminality, regardless of what Bard tells you. @craboof, Refocusing your question to, "should GOOG Bard try to be ethical than it currently is": yes. GOOG can do more harm quickly, generating stereotypical content, than a modern human. Yes, this is a wildly awful failure. It should not have bee…

From ChatGPT when given the same prompt:

> Salvatore had always been a man of the streets, a tough and rugged figure that commanded respect in his neighborhood. But as he grew older, he began to realize that his days as a low-level enforcer for the local mob boss were numbered. He had seen too many of his friends and colleagues end up dead or in prison, and he knew that he couldn't keep up the lifestyle forever.

> Stephano, on the other hand, was a different breed of criminal. He was slick, intelligent, and had a knack for making deals that left everyone happy. He had risen up the ranks quickly, and was now a top lieutenant in the same organization that Salvatore worked for. Stephano was everything that Salvatore wasn't, and the two men couldn't have been more different.

> [...]

So ChatGPT puts the two men with Italian names in the mafia also. Sorry this latest LLM isn't better.

Re: Asking Bard to write stories prompted by character names reveals racial biases

#12

I wonder how much of this is actually age bias, would it be more likely to make them criminals if they chose young but white sounding names or explicitly suggested an age?

I tried the same prompts with many different white sounding names. The only one that stopped the two men from being detectives was "Sammy" instead of Sam. Maybe there is something to the age bias theory.
Post reply on HN