failed to run start.sh: cannot unmarshal !!map into string

Summary

failed to build on macos (Ventu4a 13.6.3, Packer v1.9.4)

Steps to reproduce

bash start.sh

errors are

From https://gitlab.com/megabyte-labs/packer/ubuntu-desktop
 * branch            master     -> FETCH_HEAD
Already up to date.
✔  Ensured submodules in the  .modules  folder are pointing to the master branch
 ○ Checking for latest version of Task
 ○ Task is already up-to-date
 ○ Ensuring Taskfile.yml files are all in good standing
task: Failed to parse Taskfile.yml:
yaml: unmarshal errors:
  line 953: cannot unmarshal !!map into string
 ○ Grabbing latest Taskfiles by downloading shared-master.tar.gz
task: Failed to parse Taskfile.yml:
yaml: unmarshal errors:
  line 953: cannot unmarshal !!map into string
 ◆  WARNING  Something is wrong with the  Taskfile.yml  - grabbing main  Taskfile.yml 
task: Failed to parse Taskfile.yml:
yaml: unmarshal errors:
  line 895: cannot unmarshal !!map into string