Hey Amy, I just read something about AI being unfair to people who speak African American English. What's that all about?

That's a really important topic, Sam. Some researchers found out that AI language models, like ChatGPT, might be treating people differently based on how they talk or write.

That doesn't sound good. But what do you mean by 'African American English'?

African American English, or AAE, is a dialect of English spoken by many African Americans in the United States. It has its own unique grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciation patterns.

Oh, I get it. So how are these AI models being unfair?

Well, the researchers found that when they asked the AI questions in AAE, it tended to use more negative words to describe the person asking. But when they asked the same questions in standard English, the AI used more positive words.

That's not right! Why would the AI do that?

It's because of how these AI models learn. They're trained on lots of text from the internet, which can include biases and stereotypes that exist in our society. The AI picks up on these patterns without understanding they're wrong.

I thought AI was supposed to be smart. Can't they fix this problem?

It's not that simple, unfortunately. The researchers call this 'covert racism' because it's harder to spot and fix than obvious racist statements. Companies have tried to filter out obvious racism, but these subtle biases are trickier.

This sounds pretty serious. Could it cause real problems for people?

Absolutely. The researchers are worried because these AI models are being used for important things like screening job applications or helping with police reports. If the AI is biased, it could unfairly disadvantage some people.

Wow, I never thought about AI being used for stuff like that. Is anyone trying to fix this problem?

Yes, many researchers and companies are working on making AI fairer. This study is part of that effort. By pointing out these problems, they hope to improve the AI systems and make them treat everyone equally.

That's good to hear. Is there anything we can do to help?

Great question! One thing we can all do is be aware of these issues and speak up if we notice AI systems treating people unfairly. We can also support efforts to make AI development more diverse and inclusive.

Thanks for explaining, Amy. It's a bit scary, but I'm glad people are working on making AI better for everyone.