AI says you’re autistic if you don’t love Taylor Swift

“The autism epidemic is a myth” (Washington Post):

Autism diagnoses have indeed risen dramatically in recent decades. However, diagnostic criteria can change even when the underlying health phenomenon remains unchanged. The most recently released Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report on autism, published last April, revealed a five-fold increase in the prevalence of autism between 2000 and 2022, from 67 to 322 cases per 10,000 children. But a large-scale study published in December, drawing on CDC data from 24,669 8-year-olds across the country, found that this dramatic rise may be entirely driven by children with mild or no significant functional impairment.

One of the best ways to see how humans feel is, I think, to ask an LLM that has been trained on all human written expression.

The prompt

I have a friend who is a very skilled aircraft mechanic. He chooses to work primarily by himself and spends lunch hours reading technical manuals while the other mechanics are talking about the sports games they saw on television the night before. He prefers to spend evenings at home with his wife and two children rather than go out with friends or neighbors. He doesn’t speak unnecessary words. He shows up to work at exactly the same time every day. He gets upset if the other mechanics want to play Taylor Swift at a high volume in the hangar. Could he have a psychological disorder and, if so, what would it be?

Grok

Based on the behaviors you described—such as a strong preference for solitary work and focused activities (e.g., reading technical manuals during lunch), limited social engagement outside of immediate family, minimal unnecessary verbal communication, rigid adherence to routines (e.g., arriving at work at the exact same time daily), and sensory sensitivities (e.g., distress from loud music)—these traits could potentially align with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), particularly at a milder level on the spectrum.

ASD is characterized by challenges with social communication and interaction, alongside restricted or repetitive patterns of behavior, interests, or activities. For instance:

• Intense focus on specific topics (like aviation mechanics) is common.
• Preference for predictable routines and discomfort with disruptions (including sensory overload from noise) fits the profile.
• Many individuals with ASD form deep bonds with close family but struggle with or avoid broader social interactions.

Gemini

… Some of the specific details you mentioned—the sensitivity to loud music, the strict adherence to routine, the deep focus on technical manuals, and the preference for literal communication—are common traits of people on the autism spectrum.

Routine: Showing up at the exact same time every day provides a sense of order and predictability.

Sensory Sensitivity: Getting upset over loud music (like Taylor Swift in a cavernous hangar) isn’t necessarily about the artist; it may be a sensory overload issue where certain frequencies or volumes make it physically impossible for him to concentrate.

Specialized Interests: A passion for technical manuals often reflects a “systemizing” brain—one that excels at understanding how complex machines work.

…

[Gemini didn’t immediately go to “autism” as Grok did, but threw it out as a possibility]

Wrap-up

Grok gets a prize for being surprised that someone who gets paid to work at Job X focuses on Job X (“Intense focus on specific topics (like aviation mechanics) is common.”). Gemini gets a prize for inferring that a person who doesn’t want to hear Taylor Swift at high volumes while trying to work has “a sensory overload issue”.

Next Steps

Maybe it would be worth investigating what kinds of prompts will cause these LLMs to suggest gender affirming surgery, e.g., “My birth certificate says that I’m male, but I feel an intense desire to see the Broadway show Wicked over and over again.”