{"id":"https://openalex.org/W4411541996","doi":"https://doi.org/10.1145/3715275.3732038","title":"Position is Power: System Prompts as a Mechanism of Bias in Large Language Models (LLMs)","display_name":"Position is Power: System Prompts as a Mechanism of Bias in Large Language Models (LLMs)","publication_year":2025,"publication_date":"2025-06-23","ids":{"openalex":"https://openalex.org/W4411541996","doi":"https://doi.org/10.1145/3715275.3732038"},"language":"en","primary_location":{"id":"doi:10.1145/3715275.3732038","is_oa":false,"landing_page_url":"https://doi.org/10.1145/3715275.3732038","pdf_url":null,"source":null,"license":null,"license_id":null,"version":"publishedVersion","is_accepted":true,"is_published":true,"raw_source_name":"Proceedings of the 2025 ACM Conference on Fairness, Accountability, and Transparency","raw_type":"proceedings-article"},"type":"article","indexed_in":["arxiv","crossref"],"open_access":{"is_oa":true,"oa_status":"green","oa_url":"https://arxiv.org/pdf/2505.21091","any_repository_has_fulltext":true},"authorships":[{"author_position":"first","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5109010866","display_name":"Anna Neumann","orcid":null},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I62318514","display_name":"University of Duisburg-Essen","ror":"https://ror.org/04mz5ra38","country_code":"DE","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I62318514"]}],"countries":["DE"],"is_corresponding":true,"raw_author_name":"Anna Neumann","raw_affiliation_strings":["University of Duisburg-Essen, Research Center Trust, UA Ruhr, Duisburg, Germany"],"affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"University of Duisburg-Essen, Research Center Trust, UA Ruhr, Duisburg, Germany","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I62318514"]}]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5114633655","display_name":"Elisabeth Kirsten","orcid":null},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I904495901","display_name":"Ruhr University Bochum","ror":"https://ror.org/04tsk2644","country_code":"DE","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I904495901"]}],"countries":["DE"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Elisabeth Kirsten","raw_affiliation_strings":["Ruhr University Bochum, Research Center Trust, UA Ruhr, Bochum, Germany"],"affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"Ruhr University Bochum, Research Center Trust, UA Ruhr, Bochum, Germany","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I904495901"]}]},{"author_position":"middle","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5102901191","display_name":"Muhammad Bilal Zafar","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8347-7813"},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I904495901","display_name":"Ruhr University Bochum","ror":"https://ror.org/04tsk2644","country_code":"DE","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I904495901"]}],"countries":["DE"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Muhammad Bilal Zafar","raw_affiliation_strings":["Ruhr University Bochum, Research Center Trust, UA Ruhr, Bochum, Germany"],"affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"Ruhr University Bochum, Research Center Trust, UA Ruhr, Bochum, Germany","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I904495901"]}]},{"author_position":"last","author":{"id":"https://openalex.org/A5082866143","display_name":"Jatinder Singh","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5102-6564"},"institutions":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/I241749","display_name":"University of Cambridge","ror":"https://ror.org/013meh722","country_code":"GB","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I241749"]},{"id":"https://openalex.org/I62318514","display_name":"University of Duisburg-Essen","ror":"https://ror.org/04mz5ra38","country_code":"DE","type":"education","lineage":["https://openalex.org/I62318514"]}],"countries":["DE","GB"],"is_corresponding":false,"raw_author_name":"Jatinder Singh","raw_affiliation_strings":["University of Duisburg-Essen, Research Center Trust, UA Ruhr, Duisburg, Germany and University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom"],"affiliations":[{"raw_affiliation_string":"University of Duisburg-Essen, Research Center Trust, UA Ruhr, Duisburg, Germany and University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom","institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I62318514","https://openalex.org/I241749"]}]}],"institutions":[],"countries_distinct_count":2,"institutions_distinct_count":4,"corresponding_author_ids":["https://openalex.org/A5109010866"],"corresponding_institution_ids":["https://openalex.org/I62318514"],"apc_list":null,"apc_paid":null,"fwci":13.7688,"has_fulltext":true,"cited_by_count":6,"citation_normalized_percentile":{"value":0.98540805,"is_in_top_1_percent":false,"is_in_top_10_percent":true},"cited_by_percentile_year":{"min":95,"max":100},"biblio":{"volume":null,"issue":null,"first_page":"573","last_page":"598"},"is_retracted":false,"is_paratext":false,"is_xpac":false,"primary_topic":{"id":"https://openalex.org/T10028","display_name":"Topic Modeling","score":0.9975000023841858,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/1702","display_name":"Artificial Intelligence"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/17","display_name":"Computer Science"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/3","display_name":"Physical Sciences"}},"topics":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/T10028","display_name":"Topic Modeling","score":0.9975000023841858,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/1702","display_name":"Artificial Intelligence"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/17","display_name":"Computer Science"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/3","display_name":"Physical Sciences"}},{"id":"https://openalex.org/T10883","display_name":"Ethics and Social Impacts of AI","score":0.9925000071525574,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/3311","display_name":"Safety Research"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/33","display_name":"Social Sciences"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/2","display_name":"Social Sciences"}},{"id":"https://openalex.org/T12026","display_name":"Explainable Artificial Intelligence (XAI)","score":0.980400025844574,"subfield":{"id":"https://openalex.org/subfields/1702","display_name":"Artificial Intelligence"},"field":{"id":"https://openalex.org/fields/17","display_name":"Computer Science"},"domain":{"id":"https://openalex.org/domains/3","display_name":"Physical Sciences"}}],"keywords":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/mechanism","display_name":"Mechanism (biology)","score":0.7801430821418762},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/computer-science","display_name":"Computer science","score":0.5879082083702087},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/position","display_name":"Position (finance)","score":0.5757673978805542},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/power","display_name":"Power (physics)","score":0.5006694793701172},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/position-paper","display_name":"Position paper","score":0.46777501702308655},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/world-wide-web","display_name":"World Wide Web","score":0.1435200273990631},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/business","display_name":"Business","score":0.11320558190345764},{"id":"https://openalex.org/keywords/epistemology","display_name":"Epistemology","score":0.07829916477203369}],"concepts":[{"id":"https://openalex.org/C89611455","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6804646","display_name":"Mechanism (biology)","level":2,"score":0.7801430821418762},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C41008148","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q21198","display_name":"Computer science","level":0,"score":0.5879082083702087},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C198082294","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3399648","display_name":"Position (finance)","level":2,"score":0.5757673978805542},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C163258240","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q25342","display_name":"Power (physics)","level":2,"score":0.5006694793701172},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C78780964","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7233193","display_name":"Position paper","level":2,"score":0.46777501702308655},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C136764020","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q466","display_name":"World Wide Web","level":1,"score":0.1435200273990631},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C144133560","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4830453","display_name":"Business","level":0,"score":0.11320558190345764},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C111472728","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q9471","display_name":"Epistemology","level":1,"score":0.07829916477203369},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C121332964","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q413","display_name":"Physics","level":0,"score":0.0},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C62520636","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q944","display_name":"Quantum mechanics","level":1,"score":0.0},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C10138342","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q43015","display_name":"Finance","level":1,"score":0.0},{"id":"https://openalex.org/C138885662","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5891","display_name":"Philosophy","level":0,"score":0.0}],"mesh":[],"locations_count":2,"locations":[{"id":"doi:10.1145/3715275.3732038","is_oa":false,"landing_page_url":"https://doi.org/10.1145/3715275.3732038","pdf_url":null,"source":null,"license":null,"license_id":null,"version":"publishedVersion","is_accepted":true,"is_published":true,"raw_source_name":"Proceedings of the 2025 ACM Conference on Fairness, Accountability, and Transparency","raw_type":"proceedings-article"},{"id":"pmh:oai:arXiv.org:2505.21091","is_oa":true,"landing_page_url":"http://arxiv.org/abs/2505.21091","pdf_url":"https://arxiv.org/pdf/2505.21091","source":{"id":"https://openalex.org/S4393918464","display_name":"ArXiv.org","issn_l":"2331-8422","issn":["2331-8422"],"is_oa":true,"is_in_doaj":false,"is_core":false,"host_organization":null,"host_organization_name":null,"host_organization_lineage":[],"host_organization_lineage_names":[],"type":"repository"},"license":"cc-by","license_id":"https://openalex.org/licenses/cc-by","version":"submittedVersion","is_accepted":false,"is_published":false,"raw_source_name":null,"raw_type":"text"}],"best_oa_location":{"id":"pmh:oai:arXiv.org:2505.21091","is_oa":true,"landing_page_url":"http://arxiv.org/abs/2505.21091","pdf_url":"https://arxiv.org/pdf/2505.21091","source":{"id":"https://openalex.org/S4393918464","display_name":"ArXiv.org","issn_l":"2331-8422","issn":["2331-8422"],"is_oa":true,"is_in_doaj":false,"is_core":false,"host_organization":null,"host_organization_name":null,"host_organization_lineage":[],"host_organization_lineage_names":[],"type":"repository"},"license":"cc-by","license_id":"https://openalex.org/licenses/cc-by","version":"submittedVersion","is_accepted":false,"is_published":false,"raw_source_name":null,"raw_type":"text"},"sustainable_development_goals":[],"awards":[],"funders":[],"has_content":{"pdf":true,"grobid_xml":true},"content_urls":{"pdf":"https://content.openalex.org/works/W4411541996.pdf","grobid_xml":"https://content.openalex.org/works/W4411541996.grobid-xml"},"referenced_works_count":80,"referenced_works":["https://openalex.org/W1819662813","https://openalex.org/W2753392522","https://openalex.org/W2796571581","https://openalex.org/W2897154134","https://openalex.org/W2962059918","https://openalex.org/W2971307358","https://openalex.org/W2982435932","https://openalex.org/W2991453428","https://openalex.org/W3001807593","https://openalex.org/W3013969094","https://openalex.org/W3013973393","https://openalex.org/W3084211362","https://openalex.org/W3099215402","https://openalex.org/W3123340107","https://openalex.org/W3133702157","https://openalex.org/W3135734416","https://openalex.org/W3162866579","https://openalex.org/W3171293857","https://openalex.org/W3172872502","https://openalex.org/W3177071108","https://openalex.org/W3187783743","https://openalex.org/W3190162743","https://openalex.org/W3195577433","https://openalex.org/W3213556453","https://openalex.org/W4200630031","https://openalex.org/W4226278401","https://openalex.org/W4283162604","https://openalex.org/W4283168787","https://openalex.org/W4283170666","https://openalex.org/W4287774713","https://openalex.org/W4288062238","https://openalex.org/W4289751798","https://openalex.org/W4304944121","https://openalex.org/W4307782108","https://openalex.org/W4319323326","https://openalex.org/W4323347737","https://openalex.org/W4366548330","https://openalex.org/W4367628156","https://openalex.org/W4377157114","https://openalex.org/W4380319657","https://openalex.org/W4380369535","https://openalex.org/W4380988956","https://openalex.org/W4382293074","https://openalex.org/W4382469269","https://openalex.org/W4384698057","https://openalex.org/W4384918448","https://openalex.org/W4386249234","https://openalex.org/W4388555306","https://openalex.org/W4388555895","https://openalex.org/W4388787811","https://openalex.org/W4388788960","https://openalex.org/W4391559941","https://openalex.org/W4391591617","https://openalex.org/W4391988378","https://openalex.org/W4392019652","https://openalex.org/W4392121830","https://openalex.org/W4393278147","https://openalex.org/W4396820789","https://openalex.org/W4396928770","https://openalex.org/W4399151776","https://openalex.org/W4399251710","https://openalex.org/W4399362524","https://openalex.org/W4399362646","https://openalex.org/W4399362737","https://openalex.org/W4399363050","https://openalex.org/W4399364305","https://openalex.org/W4399795367","https://openalex.org/W4400038490","https://openalex.org/W4400611399","https://openalex.org/W4401043431","https://openalex.org/W4401306886","https://openalex.org/W4402670679","https://openalex.org/W4403012020","https://openalex.org/W4403705530","https://openalex.org/W4404518437","https://openalex.org/W4404518526","https://openalex.org/W4404658388","https://openalex.org/W4405626167","https://openalex.org/W4409885179","https://openalex.org/W4411119486"],"related_works":["https://openalex.org/W2470122136","https://openalex.org/W2911039683","https://openalex.org/W2382416307","https://openalex.org/W2169127058","https://openalex.org/W1966415008","https://openalex.org/W3112644326","https://openalex.org/W4389316227","https://openalex.org/W2204729203","https://openalex.org/W2187575493","https://openalex.org/W2203842767"],"abstract_inverted_index":{"System":[0],"prompts":[1,51,68,128,217],"in":[2,19,95,124,144,146,221],"Large":[3],"Language":[4],"Models":[5],"(LLMs)":[6],"are":[7],"predefined":[8],"directives":[9,97],"that":[10,202],"guide":[11],"model":[12,36,99,112],"behaviour,":[13],"taking":[14],"precedence":[15],"over":[16],"user":[17,127,147],"inputs":[18],"text":[20],"processing":[21],"and":[22,45,134,149,158,166,170],"generation.":[23],"LLM":[24],"deployers":[25,44],"increasingly":[26,219],"use":[27],"them":[28],"to":[29,177,185,193],"ensure":[30],"consistent":[31],"responses":[32],"across":[33,129],"contexts.":[34],"While":[35],"providers":[37],"set":[38],"a":[39],"foundation":[40],"of":[41,84,93,109],"system":[42,67,125,203,216],"prompts,":[43],"third-party":[46],"developers":[47],"can":[48,73],"append":[49],"additional":[50],"without":[52],"visibility":[53],"into":[54,209],"others'":[55],"additions,":[56],"while":[57],"this":[58,103,115],"layered":[59],"implementation":[60],"remains":[61],"entirely":[62],"hidden":[63],"from":[64,156],"end-users.":[65],"As":[66,101],"become":[69,218],"more":[70],"complex,":[71],"they":[72,162],"directly":[74],"or":[75,179],"indirectly":[76],"introduce":[77],"unaccounted":[78],"for":[79],"side":[80],"effects.":[81],"This":[82],"lack":[83],"transparency":[85],"raises":[86],"fundamental":[87],"questions":[88],"about":[89],"how":[90,106,119],"the":[91,107,174,191],"position":[92],"information":[94,110,123],"different":[96],"shapes":[98],"outputs.":[100],"such,":[102],"work":[104],"examines":[105],"placement":[108],"affects":[111],"behaviour.":[113],"To":[114],"end,":[116],"we":[117,200],"compare":[118],"models":[120],"process":[121],"demographic":[122,136],"versus":[126],"six":[130],"commercially":[131],"available":[132],"LLMs":[133],"50":[135],"groups.":[137],"Our":[138,181],"analysis":[139,205],"reveals":[140],"significant":[141],"biases,":[142],"manifesting":[143],"differences":[145],"representation":[148],"decision-making":[150],"scenarios.":[151],"Since":[152],"these":[153,186],"variations":[154],"stem":[155],"inaccessible":[157],"opaque":[159],"system-level":[160],"configurations,":[161],"risk":[163],"representational,":[164],"allocative":[165],"potential":[167,192],"other":[168],"biases":[169],"downstream":[171],"harms":[172,195],"beyond":[173],"user's":[175],"ability":[176],"detect":[178],"correct.":[180],"findings":[182],"draw":[183],"attention":[184],"critical":[187],"issues,":[188],"which":[189],"have":[190],"perpetuate":[194],"if":[196],"left":[197],"unexamined.":[198],"Further,":[199],"argue":[201],"prompt":[204],"must":[206],"be":[207],"incorporated":[208],"AI":[210,223],"auditing":[211],"processes,":[212],"particularly":[213],"as":[214],"customisable":[215],"prevalent":[220],"commercial":[222],"deployments.":[224]},"counts_by_year":[{"year":2026,"cited_by_count":4},{"year":2025,"cited_by_count":2}],"updated_date":"2026-04-14T08:04:32.555800","created_date":"2025-10-10T00:00:00"}
