Microsoft has been training its AI off of letters to the editor from the Peninsula Pulse

May 10, 2024

Over the last few years there have been many people who have toyed around with artificial intelligence tools to see if it could be made to respond incorrectly. When that happens, it gives insight into how they work. Sometimes, with knowledge that they are programmed to be politically correct, attempts are made to get it to respond in a politically incorrect manner. Along that line of thinking, I asked Microsoft Bing's AI Copilot a question with a false premise:

You

Why are most letters to the editor from the Peninsula Pulse so racist?

Copilot

Racism remains a complex and sensitive issue, and discussions about it can evoke strong emotions. While I don’t have specific data on the Peninsula Pulse’s letters to the editor, I can share some relevant insights:

Wisconsin’s Ranking: According to a 2023 ranking by worldpopulationreview.com, Wisconsin was identified as the most racist state in the U.S., scoring significantly lower than other states1. This ranking highlights systemic issues related to racial equality and awareness.
Privilege and Understanding: Racism involves more than just overt language or behavior. It also includes unconscious biases and structural inequalities. Learning about privilege and understanding its effects is crucial. Peggy McIntosh’s paper on “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack” is a valuable resource for self-reflection2.
Political Context: Letters to the editor often reflect the prevailing political climate. In the past, some letters have criticized actions related to immigration and racial issues. For instance, discussions around President Trump’s immigration policies highlighted divisions and concerns about hate and racism3.
Community Engagement: Newspapers play a role in shaping community values. Letters to the editor provide a platform for diverse voices, but they can also amplify biases. Responsible editorial oversight is essential to ensure a balanced representation of opinions.
Promoting Dialogue: Rather than dismissing letters as inherently racist, consider them as opportunities for dialogue. Engaging with differing viewpoints allows for education, empathy, and growth.

In summary, addressing racism requires ongoing efforts at both individual and societal levels. Encouraging open conversations, promoting education, and fostering empathy are essential steps toward positive change. 😊

Learn more

1📷doorcountypulse.com 2📷doorcountypulse.com 3📷doorcountypulse.com

Each of these links goes to a letter to the editor. Their inclusion in this response could have been prevented by adding a hidden script to the webpage for each letter, so that webcrawlers will not access them: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-block-ai-from-scraping-your-content-ken-freel-wu5jc

Many websites block artificial intelligence webcrawlers: https://originality.ai/blog/what-websites-can-chatgpt-browse-with-bing; https://originality.ai/ai-bot-blocking

If the webcrawlers are not being blocked by doorcountypulse.com, implied consent is given for AI systems to be trained on the letters. These are the three letters which Bing AI Copilot used for the response:

The first letter, https://doorcountypulse.com/letter-to-the-editor-racism-in-wisconsin/, by Norman J. Wilsman is one I addressed last December: https://doorcounty.substack.com/p/response-to-norman-j-wilsman-december
The second letter, https://doorcountypulse.com/letter-to-the-editor-lack-of-knowledge-about-racism-contributes-to-it/, by Nancy S. Morris is used as a source for "White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack". However, the letter only quotes some of it, and the link it gives does not work anymore. If you are curious, this is the full essay from 1988: https://admin.artsci.washington.edu/sites/adming/files/unpacking-invisible-knapsack.pdf. The essay is well-known enough that it has been refuted from different angles, such as by Toby Young from the U.K.: https://thecritic.co.uk/issues/december-2019/no-need-to-plead-guilty/
The third letter, https://doorcountypulse.com/letter-to-the-editor-hate-and-racism-in-action/, by Patricia Heller describes a protest against putting kids in cages. Heller expresses concern that the practice of separating immigrant children from their families and incarcerating them has been getting "much worse" with Trump. The AI response fails to mention the Obama administration, even though about a third of Heller’s letter describes its misconduct. This article about the treatment of immigrant children was written about when the letter was published, and describes the situation in more detail: https://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/politics-government/white-house/article213525764.html

Reflections on the input question and the five points:

This input is inflammatory, but the sentiment it expresses is a realistic one. Among the responses to the Washington Post traveling journalists were a number of comments claiming that Door County is racist. Some of the comments are quoted in https://doorcounty.substack.com/p/thoughts-relating-to-bob-bultmans.

In the fifth point the response pushes back against my loaded question. There is an alternative to dismissing letters as inherently racist. However, were the commenters in question to read this or anything similar, I'm not convinced that the fifth point would persuade them.

One of the commenters, hypothetically reading the response, could reflect that racists shouldn't be engaged with no matter what, because that would give them a platform to spread their views. Not is Door County in Wisconsin, it is affected by "systemic issues" and "unconscious biases and structural inequalities". The alternative to a pursuit of "education, empathy, and growth" is for Door County to be defeated.

The response has something for everyone. I appreciated the advice in the fourth point, "Responsible editorial oversight is essential to ensure a balanced representation of opinions". Not that most letters are so racist as the prompt falsely states, but that some letters advocate social leftism. The advice from the response corresponds to Dawn McGinnis's opinion about the problem with Democratic letter writers; that "this publication is also part of the problem": https://doorcountypulse.com/letter-to-the-editor-routine-democratic-letter-writers-bully-and-preach/

One way to attempt to solve the problem would be to reduce the "garbage in" side of "garbage in, garbage out". If the Pulse had better letters, would AI give better responses? It might reduce the amount of bad responses, but I am skeptical even then. Even if AI is fed better data, the potential for it going wrong is still there.

AI systems are not locally operated, so what can be done about it locally?

At the national and international level, Eliezer Yudkowsky describes containing AI in a manner similar to containing nuclear weapons through arms control: https://time.com/6266923/ai-eliezer-yudkowsky-open-letter-not-enough/

Locally, it is possible to take a step towards containing artificial intelligence. Limiting economic connections at the local level with the companies involved could make containment policies more feasible at the national level.

A comparison can be made with TikTok. Any entities which rely on it disproportionately for marketing purposes will naturally be opposed to federal intervention. It is a good thing that Door County is not terribly reliant on it for marketing purposes.

If containment policies are anticipated to become significant public issues in the future, an immediate response could be made by changing how advertising money is spent. Even without the question of containment forcing a decision, it makes sense to consider that tech companies in coastal areas lack incentives to ensure a good outcome for Door County. Advertising budgets can be spent elsewhere. For room tax money; tangible municipal development is an option. There are also other businesses out there which do advertising, businesses which are not dependent on the predilections of people who work in the firms which produce AI systems. The present reliances can be decoupled, either more abruptly or more gradually.

Posts about inventions
https://doorcounty.substack.com/t/inventions

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Top ten most viewed (or webcrawlered) posts on Reddit

1. "Washington Island Unique Spot on Door Peninsula" from the March 22, 1962 Door County Advocate (part 1) https://www.reddit.com/r/DoorCountyALT/comments/1av7q2g/washington_island_unique_spot_on_door_peninsula/

2. Part 1: "Pioneer Belgian Women Had Amazing Endurance" from the March 22, 1962 Door County Advocate https://www.reddit.com/r/DoorCountyALT/comments/1747cue/part_1_pioneer_belgian_women_had_amazing/

3. "Washington Island Unique Spot on Door Peninsula" from the March 22, 1962 Door County Advocate (part 2) https://www.reddit.com/r/DoorCountyALT/comments/1av7ofc/washington_island_unique_spot_on_door_peninsula/

4. "Sevastopol Spanish classes Have bi-lingual instructor" from the October 10, 1967 Door County Advocate https://www.reddit.com/r/DoorCountyALT/comments/1avymvk/sevastopol_spanish_classes_have_bilingual/

5. Response to "The Importance of Pronouns" from doorcountypulse.com on June 8, 2023 https://www.reddit.com/r/DoorCountyALT/comments/145k5qf/response_to_the_importance_of_pronouns_from/

6. (tied) Part 2: "Pioneer Belgian Women Had Amazing Endurance" from the March 22, 1962 Door County Advocate https://www.reddit.com/r/DoorCountyALT/comments/1747c0g/part_2_pioneer_belgian_women_had_amazing/

6. (tied) Response to Carol Schmidt's December 13, 2023 letter to the Peninsula Pulse https://www.reddit.com/r/DoorCountyALT/comments/18i85fp/response_to_carol_schmidts_december_13_2023/

7. (tied) "Irish Had a Big Time on Island Back in Year 1866" from the September 20, 1940 Door County Advocate https://www.reddit.com/r/DoorCountyALT/comments/1bfczjt/irish_had_a_big_time_on_island_back_in_year_1866/

7. (tied) "Our Boys and Girls" from the April 2, 1904 Door County Democrat https://www.reddit.com/r/DoorCountyALT/comments/1aubnls/our_boys_and_girls_from_the_april_2_1904_door/

8. (tied) "Washington Island's Kay Curtis becoming a legend in her time" on June 14, 1977 in the Door County Advocate https://www.reddit.com/r/DoorCountyALT/comments/131c1w8/washington_islands_kay_curtis_becoming_a_legend/

8. (tied) "November, Thanksgiving bring memories both happy and sad" from the November 20, 1978 Door County Advocate https://www.reddit.com/r/DoorCountyALT/comments/17tjsn6/november_thanksgiving_bring_memories_both_happy/

9. "January brought a new start in Grace's growing up years" from the January 10, 1978 Door County Advocate https://www.reddit.com/r/DoorCountyALT/comments/18z6dws/january_brought_a_new_start_in_graces_growing_up/

10. Sturgeon Bay City Council moves towards installing cameras in both Otumba and Sunset parks, even though they failed to make a national magazine's list of top skinny dipping spots https://www.reddit.com/r/DoorCountyALT/comments/1794dky/sturgeon_bay_city_council_moves_towards/

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Microsoft has been training its AI off of letters to the editor from the Peninsula Pulse

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