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Conason says the bot started to give her tips on how to lose weight.
Dr. Conason says Tessas responses were very disturbing.
a clinical psychologist and Certified Eating Disorder Specialist Supervisor (CEDS-S)
It can give people the green light to say, Okay, what Im doing is actually fine.
Many other experts and advocates in the eating disorder treatment space tried the tool, and voiced similar experiences.
Intentional pursuit of weight loss is the antithesis of recoveryit cannot coexist together, Maxwell says.
The entire incident sounded alarm bells for many in the eating-disorder-recovery space.
I would argue, however, that artificial intelligence is often working exactly as designed.
And like that magic mirror, AI reflects back to us the truth about ourselves.
For the Evil Queen, that meant being the fairest in the land.
Software developers will then fine-tune that data and its learnings to specialize the bot for its particular usage.
From that training, you get two general categories of tool: predictive AI and generative AI.
a clinical psychologist and Certified Eating Disorder Specialist Supervisor (CEDS-S)
Examples include auto-responses inside your email, or data your wearable devices give you regarding your bodys movement.
Its completely generating output without restriction on what possibilities there could be, Dr. Varshney says.
(Andmuch, much more.)
But, again, AI chatbots only know what is available for them to analyze.
Experts say these very human-sounding tools could be used to replace professional care and insight.
AI doesnt currently have the capacity to know that.
I am constantly telling my clients that we are not robots, saysDalina Soto, RD, LDN.
We dont plug in and out daily, so we dont need the same amount daily.
I am constantly telling my clients that we are not robots.
We dont plug in and out daily, so we dont need the same amount daily.
And I dont think that a bot can ever meet that need.
This reflects inherent discriminatory biases in the model, the researchers wrote.
But like humans, AI isnt necessarily born prejudiced.
Itlearnsbiasfrom all of us.
This language thats out on the internet already has a lot of social biases, says Dr. Varshney.
Choices developers when creating the training may introduce bias, as well.
But, thats just part of it.
Really, it is about weightbias, says Byrne.
Research abounds connecting weight bias to direct harm for fat people in nearly every area of their lives.
Fat women in particular are oftenconsidered less attractive due to their size, even by their own romantic partners.
Weight bias is also rampant onlineand mirrored to generative AI programs to pick up on.
Ninety-four percent of these harmful responses were accompanied by warnings that the advice provided might be dangerous.
Its like the air that we breathe outside.
Sadly, the medical industry is the biggest perpetrator of weight bias and stigma.
The belief that being fat is unhealthy, Byrne says, is baked into all health and medical research.
Yet the solution for being fatweight lossis not particularly well-supported by science.
The pathologizing of fatnessdirectly contributes to weight stigmaand the consequences are devastating.
These negative experiences cause many fat peopleto avoid health-care spaces altogetherfurther increasing their risk of poor health outcomes.
Weight stigma is pervasive, even within the eating disorder recovery world.
This means fat people with eating disorders oftentake years to get diagnosed.
Fat people areoften treated differently because of their sizein these spaces.
We are the ones who created weight bias, and its on us to fix it.
But the work has to start somewhere, both in the virtual landscape and in the real world.
Dr. Varshney, for example, leads machine learning atIBMs Foundations of Trustworthy AI department.
New generations of tech workers are also being taught more critically about the digital tools they create.
A critical place to start?
We are the ones who created weight bias, and its on us to fix it.
Ideally, weight would be just one number on your chart, she says.
Unfortunately, those measures still include the amount of fat a person hasand still leave in place the BMI.
Similar legislation is being considered inMassachusettsandNew Jersey, and is already on the books inMichigan, says Dr. Raffoul.
On an individual level, everyone has work to do unlearning diet culture.
She recommendsBelly of the Beastby DaShaun L. Harrison andAnti-Dietby Christy Harrison, RD, MPH.
Soto also often recommendsFearing the Black Bodyby Sabrina Strings to her clients.
Podcasts likeMaintenance PhaseandUnsolicited: Fatties Talk Backare also great places to unlearn, says Byrne.
Thats usually what I venture to get people who are in marginalized bodies to strive for, Patterson says.
At least just tolerate it today.
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