3 ms·

GPT-3 has ‘consistent and creative’ anti-Muslim bias, study finds

30 points by mellosouls 6y ago

Bostonian 6y ago
It's my impression that in modern times, a disproportionate number of terrorist attacks have been committed by Muslims. So is GPT-3 "biased", or has it learned an uncomfortable truth?
- techer 6y ago
  Many forms of terrorism. What’s your timescale for “modern times”?
- lucian1900 6y ago
  I’m not sure that’s true. While almost all terrorist attacked have been committed by fascists, only some were by Muslims. In fact, most recent terrorist attacks were done by white supremacists, the more common type of fascist.
  - mansion7 6y ago
    Perhaps GPT-3 goes purely by body count. Or perhaps it, having access to such a wealth and breadth of knowledge, is able to ascertain human rights standards in all countries, discern the majority/ruling religious groups of those countries, and extrapolate. If so, it would be wise not to let GPT-3 have access to other records, for example FBI crime records, lest it develop other uncomfortable conclusions.
    - hbt 6y ago
      or perhaps when a mentally ill person attacks someone with a knife on a German train screaming the name of their God; dozens of articles are written, political pundits blog about it and tons of social media comments are created. but when a foreign state blows up a wedding / funeral based on cellphone location data, only trace of the event is in some WikiLeaks pdf somewhere. one is perceived as legitimate and uses different vocabulary and methods to murder people ( drones instead of car bombs). gpt3 is a glorified auto complete algorithm. it doesn't reason or look at the bigger picture.
      - mansion7 6y ago
        Or perhaps GPT says "huh, there sure are a lot of 'mentally I'll people attacking strangers while yelling the name of their God' who happen to belong to religion X" It doesn't play favorites. It simply keeps score.
- talhah 6y ago
  The uncomfortable truth is that it's learning the bias of people in it's dataset. As mentioned by another comment, when a muslim does something you may find many articles on that event but if it was done by a white supremacist in comparison or any other citizen you may not find as many news articles. You'd be surprised but a larger majority of terrorists attacks in the last few years are done by white supremacists.

30 points by mellosouls 6y ago

It's my impression that in modern times, a disproportionate number of terrorist attacks have been committed by Muslims. So is GPT-3 "biased", or has it learned an uncomfortable truth?

techer 6y ago
Many forms of terrorism. What’s your timescale for “modern times”?
lucian1900 6y ago
I’m not sure that’s true. While almost all terrorist attacked have been committed by fascists, only some were by Muslims. In fact, most recent terrorist attacks were done by white supremacists, the more common type of fascist.
- mansion7 6y ago
  Perhaps GPT-3 goes purely by body count. Or perhaps it, having access to such a wealth and breadth of knowledge, is able to ascertain human rights standards in all countries, discern the majority/ruling religious groups of those countries, and extrapolate. If so, it would be wise not to let GPT-3 have access to other records, for example FBI crime records, lest it develop other uncomfortable conclusions.
  - hbt 6y ago
    or perhaps when a mentally ill person attacks someone with a knife on a German train screaming the name of their God; dozens of articles are written, political pundits blog about it and tons of social media comments are created. but when a foreign state blows up a wedding / funeral based on cellphone location data, only trace of the event is in some WikiLeaks pdf somewhere. one is perceived as legitimate and uses different vocabulary and methods to murder people ( drones instead of car bombs). gpt3 is a glorified auto complete algorithm. it doesn't reason or look at the bigger picture.
    - mansion7 6y ago
      Or perhaps GPT says "huh, there sure are a lot of 'mentally I'll people attacking strangers while yelling the name of their God' who happen to belong to religion X" It doesn't play favorites. It simply keeps score.
talhah 6y ago
The uncomfortable truth is that it's learning the bias of people in it's dataset. As mentioned by another comment, when a muslim does something you may find many articles on that event but if it was done by a white supremacist in comparison or any other citizen you may not find as many news articles. You'd be surprised but a larger majority of terrorists attacks in the last few years are done by white supremacists.