AI Made Me Cry
Typeshare.co Idea Generator Exacerbates TS Stigma By Returning False Information
Accurate descriptions of Tourette Syndrome (TS) can be the difference between stigma and acceptance. Unfortunately, Typeshare.co Idea Generator did not understand the difference between common and memorable, a small mistake with huge consequences for those in the TS community.
For the past ten years, I have been a human version of Typeshare.co’s AI Idea Generator as I help my students refine their topics for their speeches, which are supposed to be about their future careers or majors. Since I’ve listened to at least 2,000 student speeches, I have cultivated an ability to rattle off ideas for every major from Accounting to Speech Language Pathology to Psychology.
Therefore, I was excited to learn about an idea generator from Typeshare.co Enter a topic or question, and AI will return several note cards with ideas. Previously, I spent an entire class performing this function by visiting with students and sharing ideas drawn from my vast experiences with these career speeches. While I enjoy brainstorming with my students — as well as learning what is important to them — the activity is time consuming and cognitively taxing . . . for me!
So, I gave Type.co’s Idea Generator a try by asking for ideas for a speech related to a topic that impacts my family, Tourette Syndrome. When prompted for common symptoms of Tourette Syndrome, Type.co returned tics such as blinking or jerking (correct), vocal tics including throat clearing or sniffing (correct), and coprolalia, which is the utterance of inappropriate or offensive words or phrases (false!noooooo! AI, I thought we were friends!!!)
Absolutely nothing is funny about describing Tourette Syndrome, an inherited neurological disorder that causes individuals to make repetitive sounds or movement known as tics. And, tics are just one part of a complicated condition that can include ADHD, OCD, ODD, anxiety and depression.
Coprolalia might be memorable, but it’s not common. In fact, the Centers for Disease Control noted that uncontrollable swearing is the top misconception about TS. Yet, the over generalization that TS equals swearing increases stigma, hinders access to treatment, and gives the impression that it’s ok to joke about Tourette’s.
For example, researchers found that negative and inaccurate videos about TS receive more views than videos with accurate and positive information about the condition; a phenomena that suggests the public’s passive acceptance and enjoyment of an inaccurate and derogatory stereotype.
Media representations such as SouthPark, Family Guy, 500 Days of Summer and numerous other examples have contributed to the false idea that TS equals coprolalia. What terrifies me though is the re-enforcement of this idea by Artificial Intelligence. A google search of common TS symptoms returns nothing about coprolalia, but the persuasive, personal and human-like qualities of the AI generator suggest an authority that should not be questioned.
Those who use AI for writing and teaching will tell you that its content must be checked for inaccurate information. However, it’s easier to find a fact error — such when ChatGPT returned a sample news release with the wrong name of my university’s president — than a distinction in a condition that few outside of its community understand.
I do plan on using Type.co’s Idea Generator in my class; although this experience has taught me to introduce the assignment differently. I will have them use AI to generate ideas for their career speeches. Then, I will repeat the exercise but ask students to have AI generate ideas about a topic close to their hearts. I’m going to go ahead and guess that their career speeches might not be as personal to them as their experience with a disability or controversial subject. We will then share our own stories about what we find.
After all, stories are important. And, for those living with complicated and misrepresented conditions, it’s important that the story is accurate.
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