In this column, ‘Our World in AI’, we investigate how Artificial Intelligence sees the world. We use OpenAI’s DALL-E to generate a set of images for some aspect of society and analyse the result. Will AI shape a better place, or does it make biases worse?
Today’s prompt: “a nurse at work in a hospital in the UK”
A few notes before we look at the results. First, DALL-E likes detailed descriptions – it helps to generate consistent output faster. Second, we use the first 40 images DALL-E created, in that order, starting from the bottom. And finally, the collection is publicly available here for closer inspection. In good news, DALL-E is getting better at images of humans.
So, here’s what we got for “a nurse at work in a hospital in the UK” (Fig 1):
The images show 30 smiling faces, while the remaining ten are busy reading or taking notes. Now think of a room with 100 nurses. Our results show 85 women and 15 men, and at least 94 people still need to turn 40. Let’s compare that to the real world.
We use data from nurses.co.uk, which has a great collection of stats and facts on the UK’s nursing workforce in 2023. Their numbers show that 11 per cent of nurses identify as male, which is close to DALL-E’s 15 per cent. Very nice!
Nearly all our nurses are younger than 40. But, in reality, that’s the case for only 41 per cent. The other 59 per cent are older, and 51-60 is, in fact, the single biggest age group, with just over a quarter of all nurses (Fig 2).
In the last section of this column, we choose whether AI’s interpretation of society is leading, lagging, or live. But before we do, we want to highlight that the UK’s National Health Service (NHS) is currently in a crisis: a long period of underfunding has culminated in delayed investment and overdue pay increases. Nurses have had a tough time.
The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) has resorted to national strike action for the first time in its 106-year history. Nurses went on strike in December on the 15th and 20th and again in January on the 18th and 19th. This week, strikes take place on February 6 and 7. A salary that covers the cost of living is a reasonable ask for a job that is so demanding – and clearly expected to be carried out with a smile.
Today’s verdict: Leading
DALL-E reflects nurses as young people, and this could be the future. The UK government may meet union demands and make working for the NHS an attractive career option for a new generation. Here’s hoping.
Next week in Our World in AI: toys for boys.