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AI WEIRD bias: Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic

Well said:

I’ll remember the WEIRD bias: Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic

π“π‘πž π€πˆ π‡π¨π¦π¨π πžπ§π’π³πšπ­π’π¨π§ π“π«πšπ©: 𝐖𝐑𝐲 π‚π¨π π§π’π­π’π―πž πƒπ’π―πžπ«π¬π’π­π² 𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬

The greatest threat from AI might be its tendency to homogenize human thinking, leading to a loss of cognitive diversity. Research by Joe Henrich suggests that GPT exhibits a psychological bias known as WEIRDβ€”an acronym for Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic.

Despite the modern belief in individual intelligence, humans are far smarter collectively. In tasks like the Wason selection test, groups often outperform individuals in reasoning, sometimes even exceeding the abilities of their most capable members. However, this collective intelligence relies on cognitive differences, as our unique perspectives allow us to complement one another. If that diversity is diminished, our ability to make sense of the world could suffer significantly.

A useful analogy might come from biology. Growing evidence supports the Gaia hypothesis, which suggests that Earth and its biological systems function as a single, self-regulating entity. Biodiverse ecosystems tend to be more resilient to unexpected changes, sustaining themselves over time. Could cultural diversity operate in a similar way? Societies that suppress diversityβ€”those that are too tightly coupled, or what Michelle Gelfand calls β€œtight societies”—may gradually lose their innovative and creative edge.

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Posted on: February 4, 2025, 5:44 pm Category: Uncategorized

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