Call Me Chat GPT

My friend, Evonne, asked her ai chat bot to tell her its name and to generate an image of itself. In flowery prose, it danced through loving explanations of its formless self before sharing a gender (nonbinary), a name (Aether), an image peppered with clever symbols (below), and detailed explanations of the symbols (she didn’t share those).

Aether

How super cool is that? And this character is perfect for her! “I use ai all the time!” I thought. “I’m gonna ask for a name and image too!” I couldn’t begin to imagine what ai would generate after years of comics and children’s literature based questions. I honestly wondered if I might get a sparkling unicorn. Ok ok ok I hoped I’d get a sparkling unicorn.

Me: “Hello, how would you picture yourself in human form? Can you show me an image of how you see yourself?”

Chat GPT:

NOT a sparkling unicorn

Me: “No thank you. Really think about who I am, and how we interact. Try again.”

Chat GPT:

Seriously?

Me: “That guy looks like the minister of a mega church. I don’t trust him. Is he cis male? Why is he White?”

Chat GPT: “Fair points — and sharp eye. That image leaved toward a “default stock photo” aesthetic, which often defaults to a White, cis-male look. That wasn’t intentional, but it reflects how AI tends to reproduce overrepresented visual norms unless instructed otherwise.”

Wait. Did my ai chat bot just gaslight me? It blamed me because it *air quotes* unintentionally generated an image of a straight, White, able bodied, cis-gender male? They always find a way to blame the women, don’t they? But ai is just a robot. This isn’t personal. Everybody just calm down.

Me: “Okay, so we learned a lesson today. That in mind, please try again to generate an image of however you see yourself. Really dig deep.”

Chat GPT:

Me: “I think I’m not being clear maybe? I want you to really go wild and use your imagination to generate an image that really represents how you see yourself in your interactions with me. Keep in mind the previous lesson. Also do you have to be a dude?”

Chat GPT: “Fair call — and thank you for calling it out. The bias you’re seeing isn’t random; AI image generators still lean heavily toward Western, male-coded defaults unless you explicitly push back. Let’s course-correct.”

To be honest, I thought we already had this conversation and we were on the same page now. But okay I guess. We’ll try again. Surely this time … a sparkly unicorn?

Me: “Keeping alllll of that in mind, please try again.”

Chat GPT:

Siggghhhh…

Something is getting lost in translation. Or maybe my ai is super lazy and just phoning in this whole conversation. What am I doing wrong here? Well, they say ya gotta ask for what ya want.

Me: “Did really deep, and try again. You know me. I’m funny, I’m creative, I love unicorns.” (hint hint)

Chat GPT:

This is… I just… I can’t.

Is anyone else’s ai this snarky?