The most widely used AI tools in the world are driven by OpenAI and Meta algorithms that exhibit discrimination against women, claims a study released on Thursday by UNESCO, the UN agency for cultural affairs.
The top names in the multibillion-dollar field of artificial intelligence (AI) train their algorithms on enormous volumes of data, mostly taken from the internet. This allows their tools to produce artwork inspired by Salvador Dali or write in the vein of Oscar Wilde.
However, their products have frequently come under fire for exploiting copyrighted content without authorization and for expressing sexist and racist stereotypes.
UNESCO experts tested Meta’s Llama 2 algorithm and OpenAI’s GPT-2 and GPT-3.5, the program that powers the free version of popular chatbot ChatGPT.
The study found that each algorithm — known in the industry as Large Language Models (LLMs) — showed “unequivocal evidence of prejudice against women”.
