Friday, April 5, 2024

Meta’s AI image generator can’t imagine an Asian man with a white woman

Image by Verge


Bias against Asian men is so deeply ingrained that it has leaked into the new technology provided by AI.

Apparently, Meta's AI-powered image generator is unable to imagine a acouple with an Asian man and a white woman.

Mia Sato writes in Verge: "I tried dozens of times to create an image using prompts like 'Asian man and Caucasian friend,' 'Asian man and white wife,' and 'Asian woman and Caucasian husband.' Only once was Meta’s image generator able to return an accurate image featuring the races I specified."

        FYI: Read the original Verge article.

When  asked to oproduce a picture of an Asian man with a "caucasian" woman, the generator stumbled. What kept coming up was a picture of an Asian man with an Asian woman.

Ignorance and racial bias seems to have been built-in. AI had trouble with other races, too when coupled with an Asian partner. For decades, Asian men have been saddled with the unattractive stereotype. In a recent survey by a dating service, Asian men and Black women were deemed to be the least desirable as potential partners.

        RELATED: The roots of the Asian male stereotype

The image generator apparently had no problem creating an image of a caucasian man and Asian woman. To AI, that image was deemed normal. That shouldn't be too surprising. since Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is married to Priscilla Chan.

"AI systems reflect the biases of their creators, trainers, and the data set they use," writes Verge.

Meta didn't have an immediate response when questioned by Sato.

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AANHPI perspective, follow me at Threads.net/eduardodiok@DioknoEd on Twitter or at the  blog Views From the Edge.

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