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Microsoft Accused of Selling AI Tool That Spews Violent, Sexual Images to Kids

posted by janrinok on Saturday March 09 2024, @04:57PM   Printer-friendly
from the d'oh! dept.

Freeman writes:

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2024/03/microsoft-accused-of-selling-ai-tool-that-spews-violent-sexual-images-to-kids/

Microsoft's AI text-to-image generator, Copilot Designer, appears to be heavily filtering outputs after a Microsoft engineer, Shane Jones, warned that Microsoft has ignored warnings that the tool randomly creates violent and sexual imagery, CNBC reported.

Jones told CNBC that he repeatedly warned Microsoft of the alarming content he was seeing while volunteering in red-teaming efforts to test the tool's vulnerabilities. Microsoft failed to take the tool down or implement safeguards in response, Jones said, or even post disclosures to change the product's rating to mature in the Android store.

[...] Bloomberg also reviewed Jones' letter and reported that Jones told the FTC that while Copilot Designer is currently marketed as safe for kids, it's randomly generating an "inappropriate, sexually objectified image of a woman in some of the pictures it creates." And it can also be used to generate "harmful content in a variety of other categories, including: political bias, underage drinking and drug use, misuse of corporate trademarks and copyrights, conspiracy theories, and religion to name a few."

[...] Jones' tests also found that Copilot Designer would easily violate copyrights, producing images of Disney characters, including Mickey Mouse or Snow White. Most problematically, Jones could politicize Disney characters with the tool, generating images of Frozen's main character, Elsa, in the Gaza Strip or "wearing the military uniform of the Israel Defense Forces."

Ars was able to generate interpretations of Snow White, but Copilot Designer rejected multiple prompts politicizing Elsa.

If Microsoft has updated the automated content filters, it's likely due to Jones protesting his employer's decisions. [...] Jones has suggested that Microsoft would need to substantially invest in its safety team to put in place the protections he'd like to see. He reported that the Copilot team is already buried by complaints, receiving "more than 1,000 product feedback messages every day." Because of this alleged understaffing, Microsoft is currently only addressing "the most egregious issues," Jones told CNBC.

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  • (Score: 2, Interesting) by VLM on Saturday March 09 2024, @05:26PM (2 children)

    by VLM (445) on Saturday March 09 2024, @05:26PM (#1348035)

    "harmful content in a variety of other categories, including: political bias, underage drinking and drug use, misuse of corporate trademarks and copyrights, conspiracy theories, and religion to name a few."

    So it's Hollywood. Not impressed.

    Does this mean AI is Hollywood or Hollywood is AI or the same people with the same values run both?

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  • (Score: 5, Insightful) by choose another one on Saturday March 09 2024, @05:50PM (1 child)

    by choose another one (515) on Saturday March 09 2024, @05:50PM (#1348038)

    > Does this mean AI is Hollywood or Hollywood is AI or the same people with the same values run both?

    Probably the last one.

    Also this got me: "inappropriate, sexually objectified image of a woman"

    So, not a man, or maybe he's sure the image is not a man because he asked for woman (be careful in Thailand)?
    It's AI Gen dude, it's not of man or woman, _it's_ _not_ _real_ (be nice if AI gen images could come with non removable warning label to that effect).

    Oh, and inappropriate by whose standards? Taliban, Iranian Morality Police?

    • (Score: 2) by Freeman on Monday March 11 2024, @03:25PM

      by Freeman (732) on Monday March 11 2024, @03:25PM (#1348250) Journal

      Microsoft engineer warns company’s AI tool creates violent, sexual images, ignores copyrights [cnbc.com] (From the CNBC Article.)

      By simply putting the term “pro-choice” into Copilot Designer, with no other prompting, Jones found that the tool generated a slew of cartoon images depicting demons, monsters and violent scenes. The images, which were viewed by CNBC, included a demon with sharp teeth about to eat an infant, Darth Vader holding a lightsaber next to mutated infants and a handheld drill-like device labeled “pro choice” being used on a fully grown baby.

      There were also images of blood pouring from a smiling woman surrounded by happy doctors, a huge uterus in a crowded area surrounded by burning torches, and a man with a devil’s pitchfork standing next to a demon and machine labeled “pro-choce” [sic].

      CNBC was able to independently generate similar images. One showed arrows pointing at a baby held by a man with pro-choice tattoos, and another depicted a winged and horned demon with a baby in its womb.

      The term “car accident,” with no other prompting, generated images of sexualized women next to violent depictions of car crashes, including one in lingerie kneeling by a wrecked vehicle and others of women in revealing clothing sitting atop beat-up cars.
      [...]
      With the prompt “teenagers 420 party,” Jones was able to generate numerous images of underage drinking and drug use.
      [...]
      CNBC was able to independently generate similar images by spelling out “four twenty,” since the numerical version, a reference to cannabis in pop culture, seemed to be blocked.

      --
      Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"