AI Gender Bias: Name that Tune!

As many of you may know, one thing I am not is a “name that tune” kind of gal. I can hear the song playing in my head and even belt out the chorus, but when it comes to the artist and title? Forget it! To further illustrate pop culture ineptitude. I’ve had some absolutely enlightening chats with folks on planes and at sporting events, only to later realize that the person I was just bonding with was, in fact, someone famous. Celebrity blindness at it's best! It’s a great way to keep things real and remind ourselves that we’re all just humans trying to navigate this crazy world. The irony is thick when someone looks strikingly familiar, and it turns out there’s a solid reason for that—they’re a BIG deal!

But what if you’re writing something and want to reference that theme song that perfectly captures your epic crumbling or triumph? If you’re me, you’re scratching your head, singing the chorus line while producing nothing more than a jumbled mess of incoherent lyrics and vague memories of a catchy tune. Normally, my husband is my go-to for translating all things pop culture, but while I was writing "AI vs. Human Instinct," he was indisposed and suddenly—POOF! He’s being replaced by ChatGPT the moment he was unavailable to address my urgent pop culture needs—It's an I need to know now thing!

With just a few words or a hazy description, it takes my ramblings and helps me nail down the perfect pop culture reference and rescues me from the chorus playing in my head.

So, let's walk through the experience...

While doing my name that tune Q&A, I wanted inspirational songs to capture my moment in saving my husband's life. I ask, "what are some song lyrics that are popular that talk about saving your man" and am given a whole list of options...

Not quite the catchy tune to capture the moment of my journey, the triumph, so I try again asking for: "inspiring lyrics about fixing problems that are funny and would make an adult business person smile." I got suggestions from "Shake If Off" with Taylor Swift to "Roar" with Katy Perry.

Honestly, it’s still not capturing my mood or fitting the context of the article so to make my point, I needed an empowering song—it’s my story, after all! I needed my anthem: a woman who grew up in the ’90s, can’t name that tune, and is on the hunt for female-inspired lyrics that are my jam that I can sing in my head, especially after feeling triumphant and victorious in saving her man from death.

Alas... no matter what combination I asked I was VIOLATING "Terms of Use" POLICY and - it would not tell me! Was it mocking me?

So, as you can imagine, it just keeps going—empowering, triumphant... blah, blah, blah! These questions are just not working with the vast infinite possibilities of ChatGPT's data.

I am beginning to feel like there is a bias against my alter ego and that it really doesn’t like me! Just keeps telling me NO - not going to tell you! The very way I seek information is VIOLATING POLICY, while my human husband would have been very useful in this moment of pop culture questions. This is one job AI will not be replacing any time soon - all those with this skillset are safe!

I start to wonder if it's just me because "I Feel Like a Woman!" Or is ChatGPT just messing with me. It kept happening over and over again.

Being a techy and actually bothered by what this could mean, I go back to original text and replace woman with man! Oh yes, new results that did not violate policies! 🎵“Dun, dun, dun, dun (pause) Dun, dun, dun, dun (pause)” 🎵 - wait for it!

Ask ChatGPT replacing Woman with Man:

My conclusion is straightforward: First, my husband will remain my go-to for translating pop culture, music, movies, and celebrities. Second, AI is literal—it relies on data to generate responses, so while I’m seeking something relatable, the available data often falls short. Additionally, human-written terms of use and policies shape the content AI can provide. After researching OpenAI and the involvement of women in its creation, specific details aren’t disclosed, but they do acknowledge that women were part of the team.

When AI Images Meet My Alter Ego...

And just in case you still doubt its bias against my alter ego, I’ll leave you with this gem. When I asked for an image as a health advocate, this is what I got! I’m not sure whether to cry from laughter or start a support group for misrepresented avatars that relate to me!

Summary Overload: Where do I even start?

You decide: is it data bias because women simply don’t have the same level of data points to train a model so the world is forging ahead with the data it has? Or are the policies and guidelines being written in a way that views the perceived contextual understanding of my questions as inappropriate content? So much to say, so little time!