is that they can create anything. We can let our imagination run wild creating images of the most surreal scenes we could think of. Only they can't. Generative AI is limited by its training data, and image generators are still sometimes unable to create surprisingly simple requests.
Mia Sato, a writer at The Verge, has reported that she tried to get Meta's AI image generator to create an image of an Asian man with a white woman. And she came up against a consistent case of 'AI says no'. Despite using text prompts, including phrases such as 'white woman' and 'Caucasian woman', the text-to-image tool would only produce images of an Asian couple.Diversity in AI image generators has been an issue since the beginning.
She also noted that the generator tended towards stereotypes, including traditional dress, or hybrids of traditional dress, without being asked for it. The only time the image did manage to produce a result on the right lines, was when she switched things round to ask for an “Asian woman with Caucasian husband”, and it generated an image with a notable age gap between the older man and much younger Asian woman.
"The image generator not being able to conceive of Asian people standing next to white people is egregious," Sato wrote."But there are also more subtle indications of bias in what the system returns automatically. For example, I noticed Meta’s tool consistently represented “Asian women” as being East Asian-looking with light complexions, even though India is the most populous country in the world. It added culturally specific attire even when unprompted.
Sato's experience shows that while AI image generators continue to improve the quality of results, and to add new features, like, they still display significant bias. And that's worrying as AI imagery becomes more prevalent online, potentially serving to reinforce biases even more.