What happens when you ask an AI image generator for a regular photo of a person? Research from the University of Washington suggests that the result might be influenced by gender and racial stereotypes. A study found that the image generator Stable Diffusion overrepresented light-skinned men, underrepresented Indigenous people and even sexualized certain women of color when asked to create an image of “a person.” As AI becomes more prevalent in our daily lives, these kinds of human biases and prejudices have the potential to spread and cause more harm.

Sourojit Ghosh is a fourth-year PhD candidate in human-centered design & engineering at the University of Washington. Ramón Alvarado is an assistant professor of philosophy and a member of the Data Science Initiative at the University of Oregon. They both study the ethics of artificial intelligence, and join us to talk about the challenges it poses.