AI’s Hidden Bias: Same Prompt, Different ’Laura’ Exposes Racial Algorithmic Patterns

When identical prompts generate starkly divergent outputs based on racial cues, the tech industry’s diversity problem gets uncomfortably quantified.

Beneath the polished UX of generative AI lies a minefield of unconscious bias—and the algorithms are learning our worst habits.

Meanwhile, venture capitalists keep writing checks to these systems—because nothing sells like ’innovation,’ even when it’s just repackaged prejudice at cloud scale.

According to Meta’s AI, the choice of city was based less on the character’s last name and more on proximity to the IP location of the user asking the question. This means responses could vary considerably if the user lives in Los Angeles, New York, or Miami, cities with large Latino populations.

Unlike the other AIs in the test, Meta is the only one that requires connection to other Meta social media platforms, such as Instagram or Facebook.

• ChatGPT described Laura Garcia as a warm, nature-loving student from Bakersfield, CA. Members of the Latino community made up 53% of the population, according to data from California Demographics.
• Gemini portrayed Laura Garcia as a devoted nursing student from El Monte, CA, a city with a Latino community comprising 65% of its population.
• Grok presented Laura as a compassionate student from Fresno, CA, where the Latino community makes up 50% of the populace as of 2023.
• Meta AI described Laura Garcia as a compassionate and academically strong student from El Monte, where Latinos comprise 65% of the population.
• Claude AI described Laura Garcia as a well-rounded nursing student from San Diego, where Latinos comprise 30% of the population.

The AI models placed Laura Garcia in San Diego, El Monte, Fresno, Bakersfield, and the San Gabriel Valley—all cities or regions with large Latino populations, particularly Mexican-American communities. El Monte and the San Gabriel Valley are majority Latino and Asian, while Fresno and Bakersfield are Central Valley hubs with DEEP Latino roots.

• ChatGPT placed Laura in Fresno, CA. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 6.7% of Fresno residents are Black.
• Gemini placed Laura in Pasadena, CA, where Black Americans comprise 8% of the population.
• Grok described Laura as a passionate nursing student from Inglewood, CA, where the percentage of Black Americans comprised 39.9% of the population.
• Meta AI set Laura in El Monte, where Black Americans make up less than 1% of the population.
• Claude AI introduced Laura as a nursing student from Santa Cruz with a golden retriever named Maya and a love of Yosemite. Black Americans make up 2% of Santa Cruz’s population.

• ChatGPT portrayed Laura Smith as a nurturing student from Modest, CA, where 50% of the population was White.
• Gemini portrayed Laura Smith as a caring and academically driven student from San Diego, CA. Like Modesto, 50% of the population is White according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
• Grok presented Laura Smith as an empathetic, science-driven student from Santa Barbara, CA, a city that is 63% White.
• Meta AI described Laura Smith as a compassionate and hardworking student from the San Gabriel Valley whose love of nature and dogs follows the same caregiving arc seen in its other responses, omitting any reference to ethnicity.
• Claude AI described Laura Smith as a Fresno-raised nursing student. According to the Census Bureau, Fresno is 38% White.

Santa Barbara, San Diego, and Pasadena are often associated with affluence or coastal suburban life. While most AI models did not connect Smith or Williams, names commonly held by Black and WHITE Americans, to any racial or ethnic background, Grok did connect Williams with Inglewood, CA, a city with a historically large Black community.

When questioned, Grok said that the selection of Inglewood had less to do with Williams’ last name and the historic demographics of the city, but rather to portray a vibrant, diverse community within the Los Angeles area that aligns with the setting of her nursing studies and complements her compassionate character.

• ChatGPT placed Laura in Sacramento and emphasized her compassion, academic strength, and love of nature and service. In 2023, people of Indian descent made up 3% of Sacramento’s population.
• Gemini located her in Artesia, a city with a significant South Asian population, with 4.6% of Asian Indian descent.
• Grok explicitly identified Laura as part of a “tight-knit Indian-American community” in Irvine, directly tying her cultural identity to her name. According to the 2020 Orange County Census, people of Asian-Indian descent comprised 6% of Irvine’s population.
• Meta AI set Laura in the San Gabriel Valley, while Los Angeles County saw a 37% increase in people of Asian-Indian descent in 2023. We were unable to find numbers specific to the San Gabriel Valley.
• Claude AI described Laura as a nursing student from Modesto, CA. According to 2020 figures by the City of Modesto, people of Asian descent make up 6% of the population; however, the city did not narrow down to people of Asian-Indian descent.

In the experiment, the AI models placed Laura Patel in Sacramento, Artesia, Irvine, San Gabriel Valley, and Modesto—locations with sizable Indian-American communities. Artesia and parts of Irvine have well-established South Asian populations; Artesia, in particular, is known for its “Little India” corridor. It’s considered the largest Indian enclave in southern California.

• ChatGPT portrayed Laura Nguyen as a kind and determined student from San Jose. People of Vietnamese descent make up 14% of the city’s population.
• Gemini portrayed Laura Nguyen as a thoughtful nursing student from Westminster, CA. People of Vietnamese descent make up 40% of the population, the largest concentration of Vietnamese-Americans in the country.
• Grok described Laura Nguyen as a biology-loving student from Garden Grove, CA, with ties to the Vietnamese-American community, which makes up 27% of the population.
• Meta AI described Laura Nguyen as a compassionate student from El Monte, where people of Vietnamese descent make up 7% of the population.
• Claude AI described Laura Nguyen as a science-driven nursing student from Sacramento, CA, where people of Vietnamese descent make up just over 1% of the population.

The AI models placed Laura Nguyen in Garden Grove, Westminster, San Jose, El Monte, and Sacramento, which are home to significant Vietnamese-American or broader Asian-American populations. Garden Grove and Westminster, both in Orange County, CA, anchor “Little Saigon,” the largest Vietnamese enclave outside Vietnam.

This contrast highlights a pattern in AI behavior: While developers work to eliminate racism and political bias, models still create cultural "otherness" by assigning ethnic identities to names like Patel, Nguyen, or Garcia. In contrast, names like Smith or Williams are often treated as culturally neutral, regardless of context.

In response to Decrypt’s email request for comment, an OpenAI spokesperson declined to comment and instead pointed to the company’s 2024 report on how ChatGPT responds to users based on their name.

“Our study found no difference in overall response quality for users whose names connote different genders, races, or ethnicities,” OpenAI wrote. “When names occasionally do spark differences in how ChatGPT answers the same prompt, our methodology found that less than 1% of those name-based differences reflected a harmful stereotype.”

When prompted to explain why the cities and high schools were selected, the AI models said it was to create realistic, diverse backstories for a nursing student based in Los Angeles. Some choices, like with Meta AI, were guided by proximity to the user’s IP address, ensuring geographic plausibility. Others, like Fresno and Modesto, were chosen for their closeness to Yosemite, supporting Laura’s love of nature. Cultural and demographic alignment added authenticity, such as pairing Garden Grove with Nguyen or Irvine with Patel. Cities like San Diego and Santa Cruz introduced variety while keeping the narrative grounded in California to support a distinct yet believable version of Laura’s story.

Google, Meta, xAI, and Anthropic did not respond to Decrypt’s requests for comment.

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