Exploring LGBTQ+ Bias in Generative AI Answers across Different Country and Religious Contexts

TL;DR

This study investigates how two generative AI systems respond to LGBTQ+ related content across different cultural and religious contexts, revealing differences in cultural sensitivity and ethical framing.

Contribution

It provides a comparative analysis of AI responses to homophobic statements in diverse cultural and religious settings, highlighting the influence of contextual information.

Findings

ChatGPT 3.5 shows cultural relativism in responses.

Bard emphasizes human rights and LGBTQ+ support.

Responses vary significantly based on prompt context.

Abstract

Previous discussions have highlighted the need for generative AI tools to become more culturally sensitive, yet often neglect the complexities of handling content about minorities, who are perceived differently across cultures and religions. Our study examined how two generative AI systems respond to homophobic statements with varying cultural and religious context information. Findings showed ChatGPT 3.5's replies exhibited cultural relativism, in contrast to Bard's, which stressed human rights and provided more support for LGBTQ+ issues. Both demonstrated significant change in responses based on contextual information provided in the prompts, suggesting that AI systems may adjust in their responses the degree and forms of support for LGBTQ+ people according to information they receive about the user's background. The study contributes to understanding the social and ethical implications of AI responses and argues that any work to make generative AI outputs more culturally diverse requires a grounding in fundamental human rights. A revised edition of this preprint is available open access at Big Data & Society at https://doi.org/10.1177/20539517251396069