ChatGPT: New Technology, Same Old Misogynoir
(and the WAR ON WOMEN continues apace)
ChatGPT: New Technology, Same Old Misogynoir
2/22/2023 by Mutale Nkonde
The contributions to human history made by women, children and people who speak nonstandard English will be underrepresented by chatbots like ChatGPT.
Launched in November 2022, ChatGPT is a chatbot developed by OpenAI. The technology doesn’t fact-check, so its potential for mis- and disinformation is huge. (Rolf van Root / Unsplash)
During my last appearance on the Karen Hunter Show, Hunter revealed that ChatGPT could not tell her how Blues singer Bessie Smith had influenced gospel singer Mahalia Jackson. Instead, the bot provided Wikipedia-style biographical information on each woman, but could not discuss the relationship between the two. “There is no concrete evidence that Bessie Smith had a direct influence [on Mahalia Jackson],” ChatGPT chirped at Hunter. “Mahalia Jackson was absolutely influenced by Bessie Smith,” Hunter corrected the bot. “She used to listen to her records as she cleaned floors! You must add that to your AI.” (Listen to Hunter discuss it here in full, from 08:16–08:55.)
If ChatGPT does not know this much about Bessie Smith—a pioneering singer who influenced generations of blues, jazz and rock musicians—what does it know? Smith is credited with being the godmother of popular music. She stormed onto the public stage with her first single “Downhearted Blues” 100 years ago, in February 1923. Her rendition of this song in an audition with Columbia Records was so outstanding, she was signed on the spot: $1,500 in exchange for 12 records. “Downhearted Blues” reportedly sold 780,000 copies in its first year.
Smith was a pioneer in what was called “race records,” a genre of music geared towards Black American audiences. The popularity of her records made her the first pop star in American history—and made her immensely rich. Historians say at the pinnacle of her career she was earning $1,500 to $2,500 per week (approximately $26,000–$43,000 a week in today’s money). Smith’s success resulted in her influencing hundreds of musicians, including (but not limited to) Billie Holiday, Janis Joplin and Elvis Presley. Her music continues to be so influential that three of her records were entered into the Grammy Hall of Fame: “Empty Bed Blues” in 1983, “St. Louis Blues” in 1993 and “Downhearted Blues” in 2006. Smith herself was entered into the National Women’s Hall of Fame in 1984, and in 1989 she became the fifth woman to be admitted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Yet the ChatGPT bot was not aware of this. The question is: Why?
The answer lies in how ChatGPT acquires knowledge. ChatGPT software is taught how to interact with human beings through an engineering protocol called machine learning. During the machine learning process, ChatGPT algorithms are exposed to millions of examples of text exchanges between human beings and programmed to detect patterns in online speech and give each exchange a score. For example, the prompt “hello” followed by “how are you?” may be detected 80 percent of the time among native English speakers, but the prompt “what’s up” and the response “chillin” 69 percent of the time. The patterns are used to build statistical models, which enable ChatGPT to predict how to respond to prompts from human users. The larger the training dataset, the better for the chatbot because it can make more accurate predictions.
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I love technology and love it when new applications hit the market. My only wish is that AI design protocols are shaped by the Black feminist principles outlined in the Combahee River Collective Statement—which states, “Black women are valuable.” Engineers must ensure Black women, and all marginalized people, are fairly represented in their datasets. Imagine a chatbot designed to write women, Black people, people with disabilities and non-binary femmes into global history. Imagine how including them would improve the functionality of AI technologies, and imagine how this would change public perceptions of those who are presented as problems rather than the solutions for the problems we face. This is a tech sector that would serve all people including women and non-binary femmes. This is the tech sector we all deserve.
https://msmagazine.com/2023/02/22/chatgpt-technology-black-women-history-fact-check/