A Book App Used AI to ‘Roast’ Its Users. It Went Anti-Woke Instead
www.wired.com
One year-end summary from Fable, a social app where people share what books they read, told the user, “Don’t forget to surface for the occasional white author, OK?”

Summary

Fable, a social media app focused on books, faced backlash for its AI-generated 2024 reading summaries containing offensive and biased commentary, like labeling a user a “diversity devotee” or urging another to “surface for the occasional white author.”

The feature, powered by OpenAI’s API, was intended to be playful and fun. However, some of the summaries took on an oddly combative tone, making inappropriate comments on users’ diversity and sexual orientation.

Fable apologized, disabled the feature, and removed other AI tools.

Critics argue the response was insufficient, highlighting broader issues of bias in generative AI and the need for better safeguards.

  • mosiacmango@lemm.ee
    122·
    3 days ago

    I think if someone just makes jokes about “the gays” and “the blacks” its pretty clear they aren’t “just joking.”

    You can read more of them here. They all appear to be pretty slanted in one direction:

    One person who read books about people with disabilities was told her choices “could earn an eye-roll from a sloth.” Another said a reader’s books were “making me wonder if you’re ever in the mood for a straight, cis white man’s perspective.”

    Ms. Trammell, who lives in Detroit, downloaded Fable in October to track her reading. Around Christmas, she had read books that prompted summaries related to the holiday. But just before the new year, she finished three books by Black authors.

    Your journey dives deep into the heart of Black narratives and transformative tales, leaving mainstream stories gasping for air. Don’t forget to surface for the occasional white author, okay?”

    The company is chagrined about it, but it’s also clear their tooling is attacking any diverse taste, not everyones tastes.

    • Kusimulkku@lemm.ee
      619·
      3 days ago

      Your journey dives deep into the heart of Black narratives and transformative tales, leaving mainstream stories gasping for air. Don’t forget to surface for the occasional white author, okay?”

      I mean this was pretty funny lol

      And they can still be jokes if slanted in one direction. Humor doesn’t require both siding.

      • mosiacmango@lemm.ee
        83·
        3 days ago

        “Lol, it’s just AI being racist guys. Laugh along.”

        Good counterpoint.

        • Kusimulkku@lemm.ee
          214·
          3 days ago

          Something being a joke or funny to me doesn’t mean you have to laugh or find it funny, you know. You are your own person

          I was just saying joking doesn’t require both siding it. If you’re making fun or racists it’d be silly for someone to come along and demand you make jokes about SJWs too or something. Some do it, but it’s not a requirement for something to count as a joke.

          • mosiacmango@lemm.ee
            61·
            3 days ago

            You’re all over the place man. We are talking about an app that yes, is supposed to make jokes about everyone. The app is supposed to be “both siding” it.

            Your initial point was that if the app was supposed to be “roasting people” then it would mock anyone’s tastes. It’s pretty clear that no, it only makes racist, homophobic or disabled jokes. Thats not a “it roasts everyone equally” app.

            The company who makes the app agrees that it fucked up, as the article I linked showed;

            In an Instagram post this week, Chris Gallello, the head of product at Fable, addressed the problem of A.I.-generated summaries on the app, saying that Fable began receiving complaints about “very bigoted racist language, and that was shocking to us.”

            • Kusimulkku@lemm.ee
              314·
              3 days ago

              Your initial point was that if the app was supposed to be “roasting people” then it would mock anyone’s tastes.

              No that wasn’t my point, just that people with diverse taste got roasted. Clearly it didn’t work in the other direction, but that doesn’t meant the roasts that it did weren’t jokes or roasts.