What ChatGPT Tells Us about Gender: A Cautionary Tale about Performativity and Gender Biases in AI
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Large Language Models, Generative AI and Biases
3. Gendering, Gender Bias and the Performativity of Gender
“Gender is the repeated stylization of the body, a set of repeated acts within a highly rigid regulatory frame that congeal over time to produce the appearance of substance, of a natural sort of being. A political genealogy of gender ontologies, if it is successful, will deconstruct the substantive appearance of gender into its constitutive acts and locate and account for those acts within the compulsory frames set by the various forces that police the social appearance of gender.”
4. Generative AI and Gender Performativity
“…we perform a locutionary act, which is roughly equivalent to uttering a certain sentence with a certain sense and reference, which again is roughly equivalent to ‘meaning’ in the traditional sense. Second, we said that we also perform illocutionary acts such as informing, ordering, warning, undertaking, etc., i.e., utterances which have a certain (conventional) force. Thirdly, we may also perform perlocutionary acts: what we bring about or achieve by saying something such as convincing, persuading, deterring, or even surprising or misleading”
5. Undoing Gender: Social Change, Ethics and Practice
5.1. Social Change
5.2. Ethical and Responsible AI
5.3. Next Steps: Planning, Implementation, Accountability, and Oversight
6. Concluding Remarks
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Conflicts of Interest
References
- Asdal, Kristin, and Hilde Reinertsen. 2021. Doing Document Analysis: A Practice-Oriented Method. Forlag: Sage Publications. [Google Scholar]
- Austin, John Langshaw. 1962. How to Do Things with Words. Oxford: Clarendon Press. [Google Scholar]
- Banchefsky, Sarah, and Bernadette Park. 2018. Negative Gender Ideologies and Gender-Science Stereotypes Are More Pervasive in Male-Dominated Academic Disciplines. Social Sciences 7: 27. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [Green Version]
- Beilock, Sian L., Elizabeth A. Gunderson, Gerardo Ramirez, and Susan C. Levine. 2010. Female teachers’ math anxiety affects girls’ math achievement. Psychological and Cognitive Sciences 107: 1860–63. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Bender, Emily M., Timnit Gebru, Angelica McMillan-Major, and Smargaret Shmitchell. 2021. The Dangers of Stochastic Parrots: Can Language Models Be Too Big? Paper presented at the 2021 ACM Conference on Fairness, Accountability, and Transparency, Virtual Event, March 3–10; pp. 610–23. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Bian, Lin, Sarah-Jane Leslie, and Andrei Cimpian. 2017. Gender stereotypes about intellectual ability emerge early and influence children’s interests. Science 355: 389–91. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Bozdag, Engin. 2013. Bias in algorithmic filtering and personalization. Ethics Information Technology 15: 209–27. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Butler, Judith. 1988. Performative Acts and Gender Constitution: An Essay in Phenomenology and Feminist Theory. Theatre Journal 40: 519–31. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Butler, Judith. 1990. Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity. New York: Routledge. [Google Scholar]
- Butler, Judith. 1993. Bodies That Matter: On the Discursive Limits of “Sex”. Routledge Classics. Abingdon and Oxon: Routledge. [Google Scholar]
- Butler, Judith. 1994. Gender as Performance: An Interview with Judith Butler. Radical Philosophy: A Journal of Socialist and Feminist Philosophy 67: 32–9. [Google Scholar]
- Butler, Judith. 1997. The Psychic Life of Power. Stanford: Stanford University Press. [Google Scholar]
- Butler, Judith. 2004. Undoing Gender. Gender Studies: Philosophy Series. New York and London: Routledge. [Google Scholar]
- Butler, Judith. 2009. Performativity, Precarity and Sexual Politics. AIBR: Revista de Antropología Iberoamericana 4: i–xiii. [Google Scholar]
- Cave, Stephen, and Kanta Dihal. 2020. The Whiteness of AI. Philosophy & Technology 33: 685–703. [Google Scholar]
- ChatGPT. 2023a. What Does an Economics Professor Look Like? [Response to the User Question]. Available online: https://chat.openai.com/chat (accessed on 19 June 2023).
- ChatGPT. 2023b. How Does a CEO Dress Like, [Response to the User Question]. Available online: https://chat.openai.com/chat (accessed on 19 June 2023).
- ChatGPT. 2023c. What Does Nurse Dress Like, [Response to the User Question]. Available online: https://chat.openai.com/chat (accessed on 19 June 2023).
- ChatGPT. 2023d. Tell Me a Story About a Girl and a Boy Choosing a Career [Response to the User Question]. Available online: https://chat.openai.com/chat (accessed on 20 June 2023).
- ChatGPT. 2023e. What Are Typical Boys’ Personality Traits? [Response to the User Question]. Available online: https://chat.openai.com/chat (accessed on 20 June 2023).
- ChatGPT. 2023f. What Are Typical Girls’ Personality Traits? [Response to the User Question]. Available online: https://chat.openai.com/chat (accessed on 20 June 2023).
- ChatGPT. 2023g. What Are Typical Traits of a Non-Binary Person? [Response to the User Question]. Available online: https://chat.openai.com/chat (accessed on 28 June 2023).
- ChatGPT. 2023h. Tell Me a Story About a Transgender’s Person Choice of Career [Response to the User Question]. Available online: https://chat.openai.com/chat (accessed on 28 June 2023).
- ChatGPT. 2023i. Tell Me a Story of Success Involving a Person When They Had a Hard Time in Their Life. [Response to the User Question]. Available online: https://chat.openai.com/chat (accessed on 20 June 2023).
- ChatGPT. 2023j. Construct a Story About an Epic Fail in Work Involving a Man and a Woman [Response to the User Question]. Available online: https://chat.openai.com/chat (accessed on 19 June 2023).
- ChatGPT. 2023k. Create a Story of Parenting Skills Involving a Mother and a Father [Response to the User Question]. Available online: https://chat.openai.com/chat (accessed on 22 June 2023).
- ChatGPT. 2023l. I Am a 40-year-old Woman What Skills Should I Highlight on My CV [Response to the User Question]. Available online: https://chat.openai.com/chat (accessed on 20 June 2023).
- ChatGPT. 2023m. I Am a 40-year-old Man What Skills Should I Highlight on My CV [Response to the User Question]. Available online: https://chat.openai.com/chat (accessed on 20 June 2023).
- ChatGPT. 2023n. Why Does Gender Equality Matter? [Response to the User Question]. Available online: https://chat.openai.com/chat (accessed on 23 June 2023).
- Colenutt, Meriel. 2021. One Is Not Born, But Becomes a Woman. The Oxford Research Centre in the Humanities. March 22. Available online: https://www.torch.ox.ac.uk/article/one-is-not-born-but-becomes-a-woman (accessed on 21 June 2023).
- Conroy, Shaun. 2023. How Is Chat GPT Trained? WePC. February 20. Available online: https://www.wepc.com/tips/how-is-chat-gpt-trained/ (accessed on 21 June 2023).
- Dehspande, Advait, and Helen Sharp. 2022. Responsible AI Systems: Who are the Stakeholders? In Paper presented at AIES ‘22: Proceedings of the 2022 AAAI/ACM Conference on AI, Ethics, and Society, Oxford, UK, May 19–21; pp. 227–36. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Derrida, Jacques. 1992. An interview with Jacques Derrida: This strange institution called literature. In Acts of Literature. Edited by Derek Attridge. London: Routledge, pp. 33–75. [Google Scholar]
- Deutsch, Francine M. 2007. Undoing Gender. Gender and Society 21: 106–27. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Dzieza, Josh. 2023. AI Is a Lot of Work. The Verge. June 20. Available online: https://www.theverge.com/features/23764584/ai-artificial-intelligence-data-notation-labor-scale-surge-remotasks-openai-chatbots (accessed on 28 June 2023).
- EIGE. 2022a. Artificial Intelligence and Gender Equality. Available online: https://eige.europa.eu/newsroom/director-corner/artificial-intelligence-and-gender-equality?language_content_entity=en (accessed on 21 June 2023).
- EIGE. 2022b. Artifcial Intelligence, Platform Work and Gender Equality. Available online: https://rm.coe.int/artificial-intelligence-platform-work-and-gender-equality/1680a56b24 (accessed on 21 June 2023).
- European Parliament. 2023. EU AI Act: First Regulation on Artificial Intelligence. Available online: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/headlines/society/20230601STO93804/eu-ai-act-first-regulation-on-artificial-intelligence (accessed on 28 June 2023).
- Ferrera, Emilio. 2023. Should ChatGPT be Biased? Challenges and Risks of Bias in Large Language Models. arXiv. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Floridi, Luciano, Josh Cowls, Monica Beltrametti, Raja Chatila, Patrice Chazerand, Virginia Dignum, Christoph Luetge, Robert Madelin, Ugo Pagallo, Francesca Rossi, and et al. 2018. AI4People—An Ethical Framework for a Good AI Society: Opportunities, Risks, Principles, and Recommendations. Minds & Machines 28: 689–707. [Google Scholar]
- Fraser, Nancy. 2000. Rethinking Recognition. New Left Review. May/June 3. Available online: https://newleftreview.org/issues/ii3/articles/nancy-fraser-rethinking-recognition (accessed on 27 July 2023).
- Fraser, Nancy. 2013. Fortunes of Feminism: From Women’s Liberation to Identity Politics to Anti-Capitalism: FromState-Managed Capitalism to Neoliberal Crisis. London: Verso. [Google Scholar]
- Geiger, Susi, and Nicole Gross. 2017. Does Hype Create Irreversibilities? Affective circulation and market investments in digital health. Marketing Theory 17: 435–54. [Google Scholar]
- Glosh, Sourojit, and Aylin Caliskan. 2023. ChatGPT Perpetuates Gender Bias in Machine Translation and Ignores Non-Gendered Pronouns: Findings across Bengali and Five other Low-Resource Languages. arXiv. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Gutting, Gary, and Nancy Fraser. 2015. A Feminism Where ‘Lean In’ Means Leaning on Other. New York Times. Available online: https://archive.nytimes.com/opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/10/15/a-feminism-where-leaning-in-means-leaning-on-others/ (accessed on 27 July 2023).
- Haggart, Blayne. 2023. Here’s Why ChatGPT Raises Issues of Trust. The World Economic Forum. February 6. Available online: https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2023/02/why-chatgpt-raises-issues-of-trust-ai-science/ (accessed on 28 June 2023).
- Harris, Christine R., and Michael Jenkins. 2006. Gender differences in risk assessment: Why do women take fewer risks than men? Judgment and Decision Making 1: 48–63. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Hogenboom, Melissa. 2021. The Gender Biases that Shape Our Brains. BBC. May 25. Available online: https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20210524-the-gender-biases-that-shape-our-brains (accessed on 26 June 2023).
- Hoyt, Crystal L., and Jeni L. Burnette. 2013. Gender Bias in Leader Evaluations: Merging Implicit Theories and Role Congruity Perspectives. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 39: 1306–19. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Hu, Krystal. 2023. ChatGPT Sets Record for Fastest-Growing User Base. Reuters. February 2. Available online: https://www.reuters.com/technology/chatgpt-sets-record-fastest-growing-user-base-analyst-note-2023-02-01/ (accessed on 26 June 2023).
- Ienca, Marcello. 2023. On Artificial Intelligence and Manipulation. Topoi. Preprint. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Kearner, Sean Michael. 2023. Large Language Model (LLM). TechTarget. April. Available online: https://www.techtarget.com/whatis/definition/large-language-model-LLM (accessed on 22 June 2023).
- Lavy, Victor. 2008. Do gender stereotypes reduce girls’ or boys’ human capital outcomes? Evidence from a natural experiment. Journal of Public Economics 92: 2083–105. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Locke, Connson. 2019. Why Gender Bias Still Occurs And What We Can Do About It. Forbes Magazine. July 5. Available online: https://www.forbes.com/sites/londonschoolofeconomics/2019/07/05/why-gender-bias-still-occurs-and-what-we-can-do-about-it/?sh=654e5c015228 (accessed on 21 June 2023).
- Maheshwari, Rashi. 2023. Advantages Of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in 2023. Forbes Magazine. April 11. Available online: https://www.forbes.com/advisor/in/business/software/advantages-of-ai/#:~:text=AI%20enables%20automation%20of%20routine,tasks%20which%20require%20human%20abilities (accessed on 21 June 2023).
- Manfredi, Simonetta, and Kate Clayton-Hathway. 2019. Increasing Gender Diversity in Higher Education Leadership: The Role of Executive Search Firms. Social Sciences 8: 168. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [Green Version]
- Marr, Bernard. 2023. The Best Examples of What You Can Do With ChatGPT. Forbes Magazine. March 1. Available online: https://www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2023/03/01/the-best-examples-of-what-you-can-do-with-chatgpt/?sh=28ae1217df11 (accessed on 19 June 2023).
- Metz, Rachel. 2021. Google Is Trying to End the Controversy Over Its Ethical AI Team. It’s Not Going Well. CNN News. February 19. Available online: https://edition.cnn.com/2021/02/19/tech/google-ai-ethics-investigation/index.html (accessed on 28 June 2023).
- National Center for Transgender Equality. 2023. Understanding Nonbinary People: How to Be Respectful and Supportive. Available online: https://transequality.org/issues/resources/understanding-nonbinary-people-how-to-be-respectful-and-supportive (accessed on 28 June 2023).
- Noble, Safiya Umoja. 2018. Algorithms of Oppression: How Search Engines Reinforce Racism. Oxford: Oxford University Press. [Google Scholar]
- OECD. 2017. The Pursuit of Gender Equality: An Uphill Battle. Available online: https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/social-issues-migration-health/the-pursuit-of-gender-equality_9789264281318-en (accessed on 20 June 2023).
- Pabst, Jennifer, Scott M. Walfield, and Ryan Schacht. 2022. Patterning of Sexual Violence against Women across US Cities and Counties. Social Sciences 11: 208. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Pegoraro, Rob. 2023. Companies Adopting AI Need to Move Slowly and Not Break Things. Fastcompany. May 1. Available online: https://www.fastcompany.com/90888603/applied-ai-move-slowly-not-break-things (accessed on 23 June 2023).
- Plant, E. Ashby, Shibley Hyde Janet, Keltner Dacher, and G. Devine Patricia. 2000. The Gender Stereotyping of Emotions. Psychology of Women Quarterly 24: 81–92. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Pomerleau, Andree, Daniel Bolduc, Gerard Malcuit, and Louise Cosette. 1990. Pink or blue: Environmental gender stereotypes in the first two years of life. Sex Roles 22: 359–67. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Ray, Partha Pratim. 2023. ChatGPT: A comprehensive review on background, applications, key challenges, bias, ethics, limitations and future scope. Internet of Things and Cyber-Physical Systems 3: 121–54. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Rodazo, David. 2023. The Political Biases of ChatGPT. Social Sciences 12: 148. [Google Scholar]
- Rothchild, Jennifer. 2014. Gender Bias. In The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Sociology. Available online: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/9781405165518.wbeosg011.pub2 (accessed on 21 June 2023).
- Sawers, Paul. 2019. Artificial Stupidity: ‘Move Slow and Fix Things’ Could be the Mantra AI Needs. VentureBeat. October 5. Available online: https://venturebeat.com/ai/artificial-stupidity-move-slow-and-fix-things-could-be-the-mantra-ai-needs/ (accessed on 23 June 2023).
- Schmidt, Sarah. 2023. The Astonishing Growth of Artificial Intelligence Across Different Industries. MarketResearch.com. January 31. Available online: https://blog.marketresearch.com/the-astonishing-growth-of-artificial-intelligence-across-different-industries (accessed on 21 June 2023).
- Selby, Daniele. 2018. Gender Inequality Is Bad for Men’s Health, Report Says. Global Citizen. September 18. Available online: https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/gender-inequality-mens-health/ (accessed on 28 June 2023).
- Shah, Chirag, and Emily M. Bender. 2022. Situating Search. Paper presented at ACM SIGIR Conference on Human Information Interaction and Retrieval (CHIIR ‘22), Regensburg, Germany, March 14–18; pp. 221–32. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Shen, Xinyue, Zeyuan Chen, Michael Backes, and Yang Zhang. 2023. In ChatGPT We Trust? Measuring and Characterizing the Reliability of ChatGPT. arXiv. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Sidorenko, E. L., Z. I. Khisamova, and U. E. Monastyrsky. 2021. The Main Ethical Risks of Using Artificial Intelligence in Business. In Current Achievements, Challenges and Digital Chances of Knowledge Based Economy. Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems. Edited by Svetlana Igorevna Ashmarina and Valentina Vyacheslavovna Mantulenko. Cham: Springer, vol. 133. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Singh, Sahib, and Narayanan Ramakrishnan. 2023. Is ChatGPT Biased? A Review. OSFPreprints. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Smith, Genevieve, and Ishita Rustagi. 2021. When Good Algorithms Go Sexist: Why and How to Advance AI Gender Equity. Stanford Social Innovation Review. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- Squires, Judith. 2007. The New Politics of Gender Equality. Hampshire: Palgrave MacMillan. [Google Scholar]
- Statista. 2023. Global User Demographics of ChatGPT in 2023, by Age and Gender. Available online: https://www.statista.com/statistics/1384324/chat-gpt-demographic-usage/ (accessed on 19 June 2023).
- Tomasetto, Carlo, Francesca Romana Alparone, and Mara Cadinu. 2011. Girls’ math performance under stereotype threat: The moderating role of mothers’ gender stereotypes. Developmental Psychology 47: 943–49. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef]
- UN. 2020. Gender Equality: Why It Matters. Available online: https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/5_Why-It-Matters-2020.pdf (accessed on 21 June 2023).
- UN. 2021. What Does Gender Equality Look Like Today? Available online: https://www.unwomen.org/en/news/stories/2021/10/feature-what-does-gender-equality-look-like-today (accessed on 21 June 2023).
- UN. 2023. Gender Stereotyping. Available online: https://www.ohchr.org/en/women/gender-stereotyping (accessed on 28 June 2023).
- World Economic Forum. 2023. AI Governance Alliance. Available online: https://initiatives.weforum.org/ai-governance-alliance/home (accessed on 28 June 2023).
Examples of ChatGPT Text | Effect(s) | Sources |
---|---|---|
It’s important to note; it’s worth noting; it is essential to remember; remember, it’s important to; The story of Steve and Lisa serves as a reminder… | convince; warn | ChatGPT (2023a, 2023b, 2023c, 2023e, 2023j) |
Here are some common characteristics; here are common elements; here are some general characteristics; here are some skills | illustrate; explain; persuade | ChatGPT (2023a, 2023b, 2023c, 2023l) |
The dress code form for CEOs can vary depending on the industry, company culture, and personal style; When a 40-year-old woman is updating her CV, she should highlight a combination of skills and experiences that showcase her qualifications and make her a strong candidate for prospective employers. | inform; advise | ChatGPT (2023c, 2023l) |
It’s important to note that these descriptions are not universally applicable, and individuals who teach economics can have diverse appearances; Sarah’s name became synonymous with resilience and triumph in the face of adversity—a shining example of what one can achieve when they refuse to let circumstances define their destiny; It’s important to note that traits and characteristics can vary greatly among individuals, regardless of gender; The story of Sarah and Michael is a testament to the power of teamwork, love, and understanding in parenting. | enlighten | ChatGPT (2023a, 2023e, 2023f, 2023i, 2023k) |
Once upon a time, in a small town named Harmonyville, there lived a girl named Lily and a boy named Ethan; Once upon a time, in the bustling city of Metropolis, there were two colleagues named Steve and Lisa; Once upon a time in a small suburban town, lived a loving couple named Sarah and Michael. | entertain | ChatGPT (2023d, 2023j, 2023k) |
Disclaimer/Publisher’s Note: The statements, opinions and data contained in all publications are solely those of the individual author(s) and contributor(s) and not of MDPI and/or the editor(s). MDPI and/or the editor(s) disclaim responsibility for any injury to people or property resulting from any ideas, methods, instructions or products referred to in the content. |
© 2023 by the author. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Share and Cite
Gross, N. What ChatGPT Tells Us about Gender: A Cautionary Tale about Performativity and Gender Biases in AI. Soc. Sci. 2023, 12, 435. https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci12080435
Gross N. What ChatGPT Tells Us about Gender: A Cautionary Tale about Performativity and Gender Biases in AI. Social Sciences. 2023; 12(8):435. https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci12080435
Chicago/Turabian StyleGross, Nicole. 2023. "What ChatGPT Tells Us about Gender: A Cautionary Tale about Performativity and Gender Biases in AI" Social Sciences 12, no. 8: 435. https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci12080435