The source photo shows Wang, who has black hair and dark eyes, in an MIT sweater but the image that the AI generated for her shows a Caucasian girl with blue eyes; a different profile to Wang.. “However, I’m glad to see that this has catalyzed a larger conversation around AI bias and who is or isn’t included in this new wave of technology.”
Wang says that racial bias is a recurring issue with AI tools and that the experience has put her off using the image synthesis tools. “I haven’t gotten any usable results from AI photo generators or editors yet, so I’ll have to go without a new LinkedIn profile photo for now,” she says. “I definitely think it’s a problem. I hope people who are making software are aware of these biases and thinking about ways to mitigate them.”
Playground AI’s founder Suhail Doshi responded to Wang’s post saying: “The models aren’t instructable like that so it’ll pick any generic thing based on the prompt. Unfortunately, they’re not smart enough.”