USER PERCEPTION OF BIAS IN ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: INSIGHTS FROM THE R/CHATGPT SUBREDDIT DISCUSSIONS

INSIGHTS FROM SOCIAL NETWORK ANALYSIS

Resumo

This study explores how ChatGPT users perceive bias in Artificial Intelligence (AI) within the r/ChatGPT subreddit community. Recent advances in artificial intelligence have intensified public interest in AI bias, however, given the rapid and recent popularization of language models, the topic remains underexplored. In this context, social network analysis is used to examine how individuals discuss and understand AI bias in online communities. This study aims to identify and analyze common themes in online discussion about AI bias. Using data collected via the “Communalytic” platform, we analyzed over 8,000 records were collected in 2023, including posts, comments, and replies containing the keyword “bias”. Thematic clustering and qualitative analysis were applied to identify prevalent topics, resulting in six major clusters discussing predominantly human bias, human-ai interaction, AI regulation and its effects on society, as well as political polarization, gender and racial bias, and ethics in AI. The main contribution of this study lies in mapping large-scale user perceptions of AI bias on Reddit, an area still underexplored compared to technical or experimental research, along with identifying thematic clusters that reveal the public discourse around AI regulation and the user perception regarding AI bias as reflection of human and social biases.