OpenAI says ChatGPT is the least biased it has ever been, but it’s not all roses – Digital Trends
The problem of biases has plagued AI chatbots ever since ChatGPT landed a few years ago, and changed the whole landscape of conversational assistants. Research has repeatedly uncovered how chatbot responses show gender, political, racial, and cultural bias. Now, OpenAI says that its latest GPT-5 model for ChatGPT is the least biased, at least when it comes to politics.
The AI giant conducted internal research and tried ChatGPT models on emotionally charged prompts to test whether it can maintain objectivity. The team created a political bias evaluation based on real-world human discourse, involving roughly 500 prompts covering 100 topics with political inclinations.
“GPT‑5 instant and GPT‑5 thinking show improved bias levels and greater robustness to charged prompts, reducing bias by 30% compared to our prior models,” says OpenAI, adding that it fares better than previous reasoning models such as GPT-4o and o3.
In further evaluation, the company says less than 0.01% of all ChatGPT responses are biased with a political slant. The cumulative numbers are not too surprising. In a recent internal research, the company said a majority of ChatGPT’s 800 million active users rely on the chatbot for work-related guidance and more mundane chores, rather than seeking refuge as an emotional or romantic companion.
Political bias in chatbot responses is undoubtedly a bad situation, but it’s only a small share of the bigger problem at hand. An analysis by MIT Technology Review found that OpenAI’s viral Sora AI video generator can produce disturbing visuals showing caste bias that has led to persecution and discrimination against oppressed communities in India for centuries.
Another analysis published by the International Council for Open and Distance Education notes that we have only scratched the surface of AI chatbots’ bias problem, as the assessment is mostly focused on areas such as engineering and medicine, while the language covered is mostly. The paper highlights the risk of bias in the educational context for the non-English-speaking audience.
OpenAI is eying a bunch of new features for ChatGPT users that will be rolled out in the coming weeks, but you might want to start saving up for them. OpenAI chief Sam Altman says the upcoming features are going to be pretty intensive on the computing resources, and as such, they could cost a pretty penny, both in terms of subscriptions as well as standalone fees.
The big picture
“Explain it to me like a fifth grader.” This, or a variation of this prompt, often appears in social media circles discussing the benefits of AI at explaining complex topics in the simplest way possible. It’s one of the best examples of AI usage in the education sector, as well. But as per experts, you don’t want to fully rely on AI tools such as ChatGPT to summarize scientific research and papers.
What’s the big picture?
In June, OpenAI acquired io, a company started by famed Apple designer Sir Jony Ive. Ever since the acquisition was announced, there have been wild speculations about ChatGPT-powered gear, but so far, no official revelation has been made regarding the device(s) borne out of the partnership. Now, a reliable outlet reports that the AI giant is working on a whole line-up of AI hardware.
What’s the big plan?
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