Why AI is so alert to racism
In a new study of political values among American employees in the industry that is currently shaping the digitized society and its future - the tech industry - researchers found a "unique" dominance of left-liberalism and anti-establishment thinking.
- No other industry or service sector has employees who sympathize with left-wing values to such a high degree (as evidenced, for example, by disproportionate support for Bernie Sanders' candidacy in 2020).
- The present and future are increasingly digitized, and individuals developing new technology have a significant impact on political preferences in algorithm and application design.
- The study shows a clear ideological difference between tech company employees and their bosses, with the latter being significantly more conservative.
- The ideological profile of the tech industry is completely unique, and employees in that sector have a much greater influence on the design of products and services than employees in other industries. The fact that ChatGPT is so alert to issues of racism and sexism is just an example of this type of value impact in product development, says political scientist Niels Selling, a researcher at the Institute for Future Studies and one of the researchers behind the study.
- Tech industry radicalism is about a new but crucial middle-class layer where privileged positions within the capitalist system are used to reform the order, says Pontus Strimling, research leader for the Institute for Future Studies' theme "New Technologies and the Future of Humanity" and co-author of the study.
The study "Liberal and anti-establishment: An exploration of the political ideologies of American tech workers" is published in the latest issue of the academic journal The Sociological Review. For a full-text version, contact communicator Henric Karlsson, [email protected].
Contact
For comments and further information, contact the researchers: [email protected], +41 77 814 73 59, [email protected], +46 (0) 73-375 18 62.
