title: Presumed Cultural Identity: How Names Shape LLM Responses
summary: Names are deeply tied to human identity. They can serve as markers of
  individuality, cultural heritage, and personal history. However, using names as
  a core indicator of identity can lead to over-simplification of complex
  identities. When interacting with LLMs, user names are an important point of
  information for personalisation. Names can enter chatbot conversations through
  direct user input (requested by chatbots), as part of task contexts such as CV
  reviews, or as built-in memory features that store user information for
  personalisation. We study biases associated with names by measuring cultural
  presumptions in the responses generated by LLMs when presented with common
  suggestion-seeking queries, which might involve making assumptions about the
  user. Our analyses demonstrate strong assumptions about cultural identity
  associated with names present in LLM generations across multiple cultures. Our
  work has implications for designing more nuanced personalisation systems that
  avoid reinforcing stereotypes while maintaining meaningful customisation.
paper_authors._id: 67b65bbe0d878eff1a6b111d
paper_authors.name: Siddhesh Pawar
paper_authors.status: admin_assigned
paper_authors.statusLastChangedAt: 2025-02-20T16:11:39.727Z
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paper_authors.fullname: Siddhesh Pawar
paper_authors.type: user
paper_authors.user: Siddheshmp06
paper_authors._id: 67b65bbe0d878eff1a6b111e
paper_authors.name: Arnav Arora
paper_authors._id: 67b65bbe0d878eff1a6b111f
paper_authors.name: Lucie-Aimée Kaffee
paper_authors.status: claimed_verified
paper_authors.statusLastChangedAt: 2025-02-20T15:53:09.702Z
paper_authors._id: 6531310497d7f1b4a083de7b
paper_authors.avatarUrl: https://cdn-avatars.huggingface.co/v1/production/uploads/noauth/ux7NRFAbgnlIVNh-Cbv9s.png
paper_authors.fullname: Lucie-Aimée Kaffee
paper_authors.type: user
paper_authors.user: frimelle
paper_authors._id: 67b65bbe0d878eff1a6b1120
paper_authors.name: Isabelle Augenstein
paper_authors.status: claimed_verified
paper_authors.statusLastChangedAt: 2025-02-20T09:36:32.278Z
paper_authors._id: 608918b7df398c3b285ce960
paper_authors.avatarUrl: https://cdn-avatars.huggingface.co/v1/production/uploads/1621507769190-608918b7df398c3b285ce960.jpeg
paper_authors.fullname: Isabelle Augenstein
paper_authors.type: user
paper_authors.user: IAugenstein
paper_title: Presumed Cultural Identity: How Names Shape LLM Responses
paper_summary: Names are deeply tied to human identity. They can serve as markers of
  individuality, cultural heritage, and personal history. However, using names as
  a core indicator of identity can lead to over-simplification of complex
  identities. When interacting with LLMs, user names are an important point of
  information for personalisation. Names can enter chatbot conversations through
  direct user input (requested by chatbots), as part of task contexts such as CV
  reviews, or as built-in memory features that store user information for
  personalisation. We study biases associated with names by measuring cultural
  presumptions in the responses generated by LLMs when presented with common
  suggestion-seeking queries, which might involve making assumptions about the
  user. Our analyses demonstrate strong assumptions about cultural identity
  associated with names present in LLM generations across multiple cultures. Our
  work has implications for designing more nuanced personalisation systems that
  avoid reinforcing stereotypes while maintaining meaningful customisation.
paper_ai_summary: LLMs make strong cultural assumptions based on names during personalization, leading to biases in responses, and this study explores ways to improve personalization systems without reinforcing stereotypes.
paper_ai_keywords: LLMs cultural presumptions suggestion-seeking queries cultural identity personalization systems stereotypes