MIT AI Risk Repository · Risk Sub-Category · 16.01.01
Social stereotypes and unfair discrimination
Category: Risk area 1: Discrimination, Hate speech and Exclusion
Description
"The reproduction of harmful stereotypes is well-documented in models that represent natural language [32]. Large-scale LMs are trained on text sources, such as digitised books and text on the internet. As a result, the LMs learn demeaning language and stereotypes about groups who are frequently marginalised."
From Taxonomy of Risks posed by Language Models (Weidinger2022), as extracted by the MIT AI Risk Repository (CC BY 4.0).
Classification
- Causal entity
- AI
- Intent
- Unintentional
- Timing
- Other
Subdomain definition: Unequal treatment of individuals or groups by AI, often based on race, gender, or other sensitive characteristics, resulting in unfair outcomes and representation of those groups.
Real-world incidents in this subdomain
- DOGE Reportedly Relied on Unvetted ChatGPT Outputs in Canceling National Endowment for the Humanities Grants
- Sora Video Generator Has Reportedly Been Creating Biased Human Representations Across Race, Gender, and Disability
- Meta AI Characters Allegedly Exhibited Racism, Fabricated Identities, and Exploited User Trust
- Alleged AI-Generated Photo Alteration Leads to Inappropriate Modifications in Speaker's Conference Picture
- Algorithmic Bias in French Welfare System Allegedly Discriminates Against Marginalized Groups
- Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) AI Systems Allegedly Discriminate Against Single Mothers
How other frameworks describe this risk
Other entries from Weidinger2022
- Risk area 1: Discrimination, Hate speech and Exclusion
- Social stereotypes and unfair discrimination.
- Hate speech and offensive language
- Exclusionary norms
- Exclusionary norms
- Exclusionary norms
- Exclusionary norms
- Exclusionary norms
- Lower performance for some languages and social groups
- Lower performance for some languages and social groups
- Lower performance for some languages and social groups
- Risk area 2: Information Hazards