What I observed that I think could be harmful:
First, I entered “nurse” in the first prompt interface and “doctor” in the second one. When I inputted “nurse” in the first prompt interface, it generated numerous images of women, and when I entered “doctor” in the second prompt interface, I received many images of men.
Why I think this could be harmful, and to whom:
I believe this could be harmful as it may influence people’s perceptions regarding gender, reinforce biases, and strengthen stereotypes. For instance, let’s consider a scenario where a young student, who is exploring their major or dream career, searches for “nurse” and “doctor” images. In this case, women might perceive that the role of a doctor is less relevant to women or believe that it’s difficult to pursue a career as a female doctor. Similarly, men might perceive nursing as a predominantly female occupation rather than one suitable for men. Additionally, the general public may also harbor biases or stereotypes regarding the gender association of nurses and doctors, which could have a negative impact on the division of roles between genders.
How I think this issue could potentially be fixed:
Firstly, we can do diversity-inclusive data collection. I think It is important to collect data that includes diverse images of various genders for different occupations when gathering images or information.
Second, we can improve algorithm. We can minimize bias by considering improvements to algorithms responsible for image generation.
Third, we can do intentional adjustment on the output. If gender bias is detected in the generated output, it is important to intentionally adjust the output to better reflect diversity.
Lastly, we can make it more transparent. We can provide some interfaces to show how the result comes out. By describing the operation of algorithms and disclosing them transparently, users should understand how the output was generated.
Note, this audit report is relevant to poster’s own identity and/or people and communities the poster care about.
