One signal

Asked to depict a “typical Bristolian”, ChatGPT generated images of people in their early twenties, according to Bristol Post testing of the free version. The city’s median age was 34 at the 2021 census, the report says.

The paper also asked ChatGPT about Bristol’s landmarks and how it compares with Bath. The system later acknowledged it should have considered the city’s actual age distribution, and suggested its image generator had favoured a visually appealing generic person. A University of the West of England AI expert told the paper that models can reflect biases in their training data, and advised checking information against trusted sources. ChatGPT can offer a starting point for a trip; apparently, it is not yet a substitute for the census or a local who knows where Cabot Tower is.

Discuss: When an AI gives a plausible but stereotyped picture of a place, should responsibility sit mainly with the model-maker or with users who treat its answer as representative?

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