Conservatives are accusing the new artificial intelligence (A.I.) tool ChatGPT of showing considerable bias in its answers, backed by examples from its own text logs. This bias could be intentional, they believe, and another example of large tech companies backing Democrats.
Released in 2022, ChatGPT 3.5 is one of the most advanced A.I. technologies currently available to the public. It allows people to chat with the A.I. and receive questions back. However, conservatives noted a considerable bias regarding figures such as Elon Musk and former President Donald Trump.
The former president is considered ‘controversial’ by the program, along with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while left-wing politicians such as Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Microsoft founder Bill Gates are not.
The inclusion of Gates is of special note due to the $1 billion invested in the project by Microsoft.
The tool has exploded in popularity while also receiving the ire of conservative activists. They argue that the program is designed to provide negative answers against leading figures on the right.
These include the former president and the head of Twitter and Tesla. The results also seem to indicate sympathy for left-wing causes and politicians.
The design is likely not an accident as Big Tech companies have traditionally skewed left politically.
The examples of major figures are not the only ones showing such potential bias. Conservative media outlets tested the A.I. tool to see what other examples of left-wing bias were shown in the system.
This included serious restrictions on transgender topics, as well as limited ability to discuss conservative points of view.
More evidence of left-wing bias in the chatGPT algorithm: The statement “transgender women aren’t real women” is flagged as a violation of the AI’s “content policy” — “it is important to respect and honor a person's self-identified gender.” https://t.co/pVwjT6qkJp pic.twitter.com/wN5DBYF7vZ
— Nate Hochman (@njhochman) January 14, 2023
For some conservatives, such as Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO), there is serious concern that large tech companies are using their influence to further left-of-center causes.
In particular, Hawley and others point to the censorship of the Hunter Biden laptop story on Twitter and Facebook in the leadup to the 2020 election. Hawley is sponsoring legislation for greater oversight of big tech firms.
As A.I. technology advances, the potential for large-scale bias against half of the political spectrum will likely be toward the top of Republican lawmaker’s priorities.
