**Yet another AI Racism example**
https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2024/09/yet-another-ai-racism-example/
Here's a good pub-quiz trivia question - which Oscar-winning Actors have appeared in Doctor Who?
It's the sort of thing that you can either wrack your brains for, or construct a SPARQL Query for WikiData<a href="#fn:spq" class="footnote-ref" title="You can see the query for nominees and the subsequent results" role="doc-noteref">0</a>. I was bored and asked ChatGPT.
The new [Omni model](
https://openai.com/index/hello-gpt-4o/ ) claims to be faster and more accurate. But, in my experience, it's wrong more than it is right and is a bit more racist.
I asked "[Which Oscar winners have appeared in episodes of Doctor Who?](
ChatGPT
ChatGPT - Oscar Winners in Doctor Who
Shared via ChatGPT
)" Here are the results:
OK, first up, those are all entirely accurate! Capaldi *is* an Oscar-winner Doctor Who. Coleman the only Oscar-winning baddie. And I am happy to spend hours in the pub arguing over whether [The Curse of Fatal Death](
Tardis
The Curse of Fatal Death (TV story)
The Curse of Fatal Death was a Comic Relief segment created for part of 1999's Red Nose Day Celebration. This story served as a production bri...
) is cannon<a href="#fn:cannon" class="footnote-ref" title="It is." role="doc-noteref">1</a>.
But then things get… weird.
John Hurt didn't win [an honorary award in 2012](
85th Academy Awards - Wikipedia
). He was mentioned in the [memoriam montage](
the Guardian
John Hurt remembered at Oscars ceremony
The late actor, star of Nineteen Eighty-Four and The Elephant Man, was honoured by the Academy in their annual In Memoriam montage
) in 2017
Ben Kingsley was [*rumoured* to be playing Davros back in 2007](
Digital Spy
Sir Ben Kingsley denies Davros claims
Sir Ben Kingsley denies he will play the Dalek creator in Doctor Who.
) - but it never happened. He did win an Oscar though.
Ecclesdoc *was* in The Others. [It *did* win many awards](
The Others (2001 film) - Wikipedia
). But not a single Oscar. There isn't even an award for "Best Art Direction".
Finally, this is tacked onto the end.
Look, we all love Lynda Baron - and she was excellent in The Gun Slingers, Enlightenment, and Closing Time. I was surprised to find out she was in Yentl - but indeed she was! However the songwriting Oscar went to Michel Legrand and Alan & Marilyn Bergman. Not her.##
[Why is this racist](#why-is-this-racist )This "AI" would rather hallucinate than acknowledge the Black actors who have been in Doctor Who.
Sophie Okonedo plays [Queen Elizabeth the 10th](
Doctor Who (2005–2022) - Series 5: 2. The Beast Below - BBC iPlayer
) in "The Beast Below".
Not only is she "the bloody Queen, mate" - she was [nominated for Best Supporting Actress](
Oscars.org | Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
The 77th Academy Awards | 2005
The 77th Academy Awards | 2005
) for Hotel Rwanda.
She has as much right to be in the list ChatGPT provided as John Hurt. With no disrespect intended to Kingsley, Eccleston, and Baron - Sophie Okonedo is much closer to the original question than they are. This isn't a knowledge cut-off issue either, she was nominated *before* Oliva Coleman won.
It's not like she's a bit-part. She's not an alien under a mountain of prosthetics. She's literally top of the credits after The Doctor and Amy!
And then, there's the small matter of [Planet of the Dead](
Doctor Who (2005–2022) - Planet of the Dead - BBC iPlayer
). It isn't a *great* episode. But it has a nice turn from Michelle Evans and Lee Evans<a href="#fn:evans" class="footnote-ref" title="No relation." role="doc-noteref">2</a>. Oh, and this guy…
That's **ACTUAL FUCKING OSCAR WINNER** Daniel Kaluuya. He got a nomination for Get Out, but [won for Judas and the Black Messiah](
Oscars.org | Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
The 93rd Academy Awards | 2021
The 93rd Academy Awards | 2021
) in 2021.
Again, he isn't an unnamed background artist. He isn't there under his pre-fame stage name. He's an integral part of the show.##
[What does this teach us?](#what-does-this-teach-us )The query I asked wasn't a matter of opinion. It isn't a controversial question. There aren't multiple sources which could be considered trustworthy. It is a simple question of facts.
So why does ChatGPT fail?
LLMs are *not* repositories of knowledge. They have a superficial view of the world and are unable to tell fact from speculation. They are specifically built to be confidently wrong rather than display their ignorance.
And, yes, they are as biased as hell.
There is no way that you can explain the exclusion of Sophie Okonedo and Daniel Kaluuya without acknowledging the massive levels of racial prejudice which are baked into either the model or its training data.<li id="fn:spq" role="doc-endnote"><p>You can see the <a href="
https://w.wiki/B7C$">query</a> for nominees and the subsequent <a href="
https://w.wiki/B7Cz">results</a> <a href="#fnref:spq" class="footnote-backref" role="doc-backlink">↩︎</a></p></li><li id="fn:cannon" role="doc-endnote"><p>It is. <a href="#fnref:cannon" class="footnote-backref" role="doc-backlink">↩︎</a></p></li><li id="fn:evans" role="doc-endnote"><p>No relation. <a href="#fnref:evans" class="footnote-backref" role="doc-backlink">↩︎</a></p></li>
https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2024/09/yet-another-ai-racism-example/
#DoctorWho #racism
). There are far more fans than there are tickets, so prices rise. There are all sorts of complicated economic theories around how efficient markets can be, and whether "[reverse Dutch auctions]( )" are sensible. But the end result is always the same - the richest fans get to see their heroes and the rest of us pay inflated prices.
But that's not the *only* way dynamic pricing works. Some shows don't sell out. Even the biggest names can sometimes fail to fill a massive venue on a wet Tuesday. When an event doesn't have the numbers expected, *negative* dynamic pricing kicks in.
I'm subscribed a number of "Seat Filler" mailing lists. They offer cut-price tickets to events which haven't sold enough tickets.
Having more bums on seats is good for the show (a bigger crowd is a happier crowd), good for the act (a boost to the ego), and good for the venue (more people buying overpriced drinks and snacks).
Last year, I got tickets to [The Who at the O2]( ). For a fiver.
Now. these were nosebleed seats, which were only on sale the day before the event, with limited availability, and the drinks were extortionate. But, also, the tickets were cheap!
This happens *all the time!* OK, it's unlikely to happen with Oasis - but you would be surprised at the number of big name acts that need to use dynamic pricing like this. I've been to gigs, comedy shows, operas, ballets, concerts, and plays for a fraction of the published ticket price.
Perhaps the future for oversubscribed events is a pure lottery. Perhaps tHe BLocKChaIn will solve the problem of touting. Perhaps people need to accept that no-one is forced to engage with the market.
But, also, perhaps dynamic pricing sometimes lets some people experience culture that they'd otherwise be excluded from?
#economics
