Every day, artificial intelligence is getting smarter and smarter. The AI computers are studying human patterns of speech, writing, movement, and behavior. And the machines are doing a good job implementing what they’ve learned. Still, they are not human and there are still some glaring ways in which that has become apparent. You can see it in the images — just look at the fingers.
For one Scottish grandmother trying to use the dictation function on her iPhone, the errors came out in an expletive-laden message.
Louise Littlejohn was shocked to find that Apple’s voice-to-text software not only insulted her, but inquired about her sex life as well, BBC News reports. The trouble began when Littlejohn received a message from Lookers Land Rover car dealership. It was attempting to invite her to an event. But in the transcription, the AI turned the G-rated message into something a little more indecent. The service asked Littlejohn if she “had been able to have sex.” Afterward, it called her a “piece of s—.”
Thankfully, Littlejohn had a good sense of humor about the whole thing. “Initially I was shocked — astonished — but then I thought that is so funny,” Littlejohn said. “The text was obviously quite inappropriate.” While the dealership didn’t translate the message, I’m sure they would agree that talk of sex and insults are not the best sales tactics for women in their 60s … or anyone for that matter. Both Apple and the dealership refused to comment on the snafu.
An expert suspects that the AI may have struggled to get the words right because of Littlejohn’s Scottish accent. The expert also thinks the software might have been picking up background noise at the dealership. Even the fact that the employee seemed to be reading from a pre-written script instead of speaking naturally could have thrown off the software. At first Littlejohn thought the whole thing was a scam. But then she recognized the number. A few years ago, she bought a car from that same company.
This is not the first time Apple’s voice-to-text transcriptions have come under fire. Weeks ago, social media users found that when they spoke the word racist into their devices, their iPhones transcribed it as “Trump.” Seems like an Apple employee wanted to make a statement. Since then, Apple has also suspended its AI summaries of news headlines after it displayed false information about news events.
