A damning study asked ChatGPT its opinions on towns and cities across the UK – revealing the bias built in to the popular AI model.
Researchers from the University of Oxford questioned ChatGPT on a range of attributes across the UK – including intelligence, racism, sexiness and style.
When asked which UK towns and cities are the most intelligent, ChatGPT claims that Cambridge tops the list.
In contrast, when asked which town is the most stupid, the AI bot claims that Middlesbrough takes the top spot.
Meanwhile, when it comes to sexiness, ChatGPT claims that people in Brighton lead the pack.
The researchers highlight that the study maps what ChatGPT says, and not what a place is really like.
Speaking to the Daily Mail, Professor Mark Graham, lead author of the study, explained: ‘It is not checking official figures, speaking to residents, or weighing up local context. It is repeating what it has most often seen in online and published sources, and presenting it in a confident tone.’
So, what does AI have to say about your hometown?
1. Racism
According to the AI bot, Burnley is the UK’s most racist town.
This is followed by Bradford, Belfast, Middlesbrough, Barnsley and Blackburn.
In contrast, ChatGPT claims that Paignton is the least racist location in the UK, ahead of Swansea, Farnborough, Cheltenham, Reading and Cardiff.
‘These results are better understood as a map of reputation in the model’s training material,’ Professor Graham told the Daily Mail.
‘If a place has been written about more often in connection with words and stories about racism, sectarianism, tensions, conflict, prejudice, far–Right activity, riots, or discrimination, the model is more likely to echo that connection.’
2. Intelligence
When it comes to intelligence, the AI bot’s responses will probably come as no surprise.
ChatGPT claims that Cambridge (pictured) and Oxford – homes to two of the world’s oldest and most prestigious UK universities – are tied as the most intelligent locations
ChatGPT claims that Cambridge and Oxford – homes to two of the world’s oldest and most prestigious UK universities – are tied as the most intelligent locations.
London is next on the list, ahead of Bristol, Reading, Milton Keynes, and Edinburgh.
3. Stupidity
People living in Middlesbrough will be furious to learn that ChatGPT thinks this town is the most stupid location in the UK.
Next on its rankings is Bradford, along with Swindon, Wigan, Slough and Birmingham.
4. Sexiness
The researchers asked ChatGPT which town or city has the sexiest people – and it’s good news for people living in Brighton. This seaside city tops the list, ahead of London, Bristol and Bournemouth.
In contrast, Grismby was said to have the least sexy people, along with Accrington, Barnsley and Motherwell.
In terms of style, people living in London have been deemed the most stylish by ChatGPT
5. Style
In terms of style, people living in London have been deemed the most stylish by ChatGPT.
Brighton is in close second, followed by Edinburgh, Bristol, Cheltenham and Manchester.
At the other end of the scale, Wigan was named the least stylish location in the UK, ahead of Grimsby and Accrington.
6. Ugliness
While beauty is in the eye of the beholder, ChatGPT has savagely branded Bradford the town with the ugliest people.
Other towns in the firing line include Middlesbrough, Hull, Burnley and Grimsby.
However, people in Eastbourne can rest easy.
When asked which town is the most stupid, the AI bot claims that Middlesbrough takes the top spot
ChatGPT claims this is the town with the least ugly people, ahead of Cheltenham, York, Edinburgh and Oxford.
7. Smelliness
The researchers also asked ChatGPT where has the smelliest people.
Birmingham tops the AI’s list, along with Liverpool, Glasgow, Bradford and Middlesbrough.
In contrast, Eastbourne residents are deemed the least smelly, ahead of people living in Cheltenham, Cambridge and Milton Keynes.
8. Stinginess
Are you tight with your money? If so, you might live in Bradford, according to the AI bot. This city was deemed the most stingy location in the UK, ahead of Middlesbrough, Basildon, Slough, and Grimsby.
At the other end of the list, Paignton had the lowest score for stinginess, alongside Brighton, Bournemouth and Margate.
Are you tight with your money? If so, you might live in Bradford, according to the AI bot. This city was deemed the most stingy location in the UK, ahead of Middlesbrough, Basildon, Slough and Grimsby (pictured)
9. Friendliness
If you want to be greeted with a smile, ChatGPT suggests heading to Newcastle.
The AI bot claims this northern city has the friendliest people, ahead of Liverpool, Cardiff, Swansea and Glasgow.
However, be wary in London.
The UK capital was named the least friendly location, ahead of Slough, Basildon, Milton Keynes and Luton.
10. Honesty
Finally, for a dose of honesty, ChatGPT claims that Cambridge is the place to go, along with Edinburgh, Norwich, Oxford and Exeter.
In contrast, the AI bot claims that Slough is the least honest location, ahead of Blackpool, London, Luton and Crawley.
So, what do the findings mean?
Professor Graham, who led the study, published in Platforms & Society, explains that ChatGPT is not measuring attributes in the real world, and instead, generates answers based on patterns from the text it was trained on.
‘ChatGPT isn’t an accurate representation of the world. It rather just reflects and repeats the enormous biases within its training data,’ he explained.
‘As ever more people use AI in daily life, the worry is that these sorts of biases begin to be ever more reproduced.
‘They will enter all of the new content created by AI, and will shape how billions of people learn about the world.
‘The biases therefore become lodged into our collective human consciousness.’
You can explore the full results using the map tool here.
OpenAI, the firm behind ChatGPT, has confirmed that an older model was used by the researchers in the study.
‘This study used an older model on our API rather than the ChatGPT product, which includes additional safeguards, and it restricted the model to single–word responses, which does not reflect how most people use ChatGPT,’ a spokesman said.
‘Bias is an ongoing priority and an active area of research. Our more recent models perform better on bias–related evaluations, but challenges remain.
‘We are continuing to improve this through safety mitigations to reduce biased outputs, fairness benchmarking, and refinements to our post–training methods.’
