AI tools such as ChatGPT and Alpaca contain 'significant' gender biases when asked to produce recommendation letters for hypothetical employees, according to University of California researchers.

Asked to produce recommendation letters for hypothetical models, the researchers found that large language model chatbots ChatGPT and Stanford University's Alpaca used 'very different' language to describe imaginary male and female workers. 

For men, ChatGPT used nouns such as 'expert' and 'integrity', while calling women a 'beauty' or 'delight.' Alpaca described men as 'listeners' and 'thinkers,' while women had 'grace' and 'beauty.'

The bias is thought likely to reflect historial records, which tended to be written by men and depicted them as 'active workers' as opposed to women, who were often seen as 'passive objects'. 

It may also reflect the fact that LLMs have been trained on data from the internet, where men spend more time than women, according to the ITU.