The Unavoidable Bias in AI: A Modern Reflection of Historical Skews

Artificial Intelligence (AI) companies seeking to collaborate with the U.S. government must ensure their systems are unbiased, a complexity highlighted by an executive order from President Donald Trump targeting 'woke' AI. Despite calls for neutrality, language models and chatbots reveal their inherent bias.

Historical precedents, from cartography to the Dewey Decimal Classification, illustrate that efforts to organize information often reflect the biases of their creators. AI models trained on extensive text sources are no different, as they unintentionally incorporate biases from the material they are trained on, including decades-old stereotypes.

This ongoing issue signifies the centuries-old challenge of bias in information organization. As AI continues to develop, recognizing whose perspectives these models project is crucial for understanding their responses, akin to knowing who draws the lines on a map.

(With inputs from agencies.)