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Lyft’s algorithm is trying to block people with names like ‘Dick’ and ‘Cummings’

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Re: Lyft’s algorithm is trying to block people with names like ‘Dick’ and ‘Cummings’

#261

Post by michaelmrose »

qwerty456127 wrote: post #76
reaperducer wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A word is just a word and whenever it insults somebody it's their own problem. There was a study linked to on HN a couple of years ago that found that babies recognize swear words even before they have language skills, and that people can sometimes recognize swear words in languages they don't speak. It has to do with the tone and sharpness of the sounds.

Does this mean a baby, whose father's name is Dick would feel bad and/or get mentally traumatized?

Babies are recognizing the act of swearing at someone rather than the particular word being spoken.

The baby wouldn't experience the father's name as a swear word unless the conversation was for example about the dicks new girlfriend and his wife's assessment of the matter.

Dick vs DIIIIIIICK

Re: Lyft’s algorithm is trying to block people with names like ‘Dick’ and ‘Cummings’

#263

Post by rjeli »

kevin_thibedeau wrote: post #254
gdy wrote: post #229

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"A word is just a word" Good luck using the N-word in the US.

Dave Chapelle's Mark Twain prize show on PBS was littered with N and F bombs. Only Fuck was censored.

Not sure if you are aware but Chapelle is black

Re: Lyft’s algorithm is trying to block people with names like ‘Dick’ and ‘Cummings’

#264

Post by woah »

mygo wrote: post #260
marton78 wrote: post #257

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I find that highly doubtful, since around 50 years passed between WWII and the advent of mobile phones. I heard that "handy" was some early model by Motorola.

And why did Motorola name it the “handy”?

Probably because it was handy.

Re: Lyft’s algorithm is trying to block people with names like ‘Dick’ and ‘Cummings’

#265

Post by magneticnorth »

chrisseaton wrote: post #178
jrockway wrote: post #175

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you and the driver are supposed to exchange names. This is probably awkward when you name yourself "suck my balls" or something, which people undoubtedly do because people are terrible. The Simpsons figured this out decades ago: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1EjcWU6sEk

> I think you and the driver are supposed to exchange names. What for? And how does any other environment where people introduce themselves to each other fix this? I don't think they see it as a problem in practice.

For safety, mostly - there have been bad situations when people mistook a car for their uber, including at least one kidnapping & murder: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/30/us/samantha-josephson-usc...

Re: Lyft’s algorithm is trying to block people with names like ‘Dick’ and ‘Cummings’

#266

Post by asveikau »

spacechild1 wrote: post #214
danso wrote: post #16

Besides the humor of how Lyft's filter flagged traditionally Caucasian names like "Cummings" – in addition to the usual issues with non-Western names, e.g. Pimpong and Poon – I'm fascinated/confused how this made it into production? The user database already exists and was currently being used by the live application. Before deploying this new filter onto the production database, wouldn't you do a dry run to get not…

> traditionally Caucasian names like "Cummings" It always amazes me when US Americans talk in terms of human races like it's the most normal thing in the world. And no, “Cummings“ is not a “Caucasian name“ (whatever that is supposed to mean), it's an English name. I don't want sound too harsh, it's just that as a Central European with all our recent history, things like this really rub me the wrong way.

As an American I agree and this was also my reaction to the comment.

There are a number of these things, though. I personally get a little irritated with the way many people here use terms like "Hispanic" to contrast with "white people". To me, "Hispanic" is a wide spectrum of ethnicities but really more of a linguistic, cultural and national/political specifier, with lots of overlap with "white". People who are trying to be correct about this will pull out complicated phrases like "non-hispanic whites" which may be correct but are also clumsy, reflecting the absurdity of the way we categorize this country's social boundaries in the first place. "White" itself has had a fluid definition in the US over time, previously having excluded southern or eastern Europe, Jews, or even the Irish.

I know that in my own recent ancestry I have at least 4 European ethnicities, some of which would have been ridiculed by other Americans in the past. But this nuance washes away and I am a "white guy" which lumps me together with cultures I don't particularly identify with. There is no sense in denying, for example, that I am less discriminated against by appearance than other groups. But I do not think either that there is one homogeneous "white people" living in the United States.

Re: Lyft’s algorithm is trying to block people with names like ‘Dick’ and ‘Cummings’

#267

Post by mattkrause »

WAHa_06x36 wrote: post #241
noelsusman wrote: post #235

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Race is not a uniquely American concept. The Germans were the ones who first came up with the idea of a Caucasian race back in the 18th century. You're not wrong though, we should use White European instead since that's what it means today.

That really doesn't resolve anything, and just further demonstrates the really weird relationship with race and nationality that Americans have. Namely: Why would it be called "white EUROPEAN" when basically none of the people it is applied to are European in any reasonable sense of the word? They may have great-great-great-grandparents who were European, but that does not make them European. Americans do this all th…

> have zero exposure to the culture of that country.

Even when that’s true—-and it often isn’t--they usually mean that they’re part of a specific American subculture.

Italian-Americans, for example, traditionally celebrate Christmas Eve with a “Feast of the Seven Fishes.” This dinner isn’t traditional in Italy, but it’s also not common in other American cultures either. An Irish-American family might have a turkey instead but they’re more likely to “observe” St. Patrick’s Day by eating soda bread and corned beef.

Re: Lyft’s algorithm is trying to block people with names like ‘Dick’ and ‘Cummings’

#268

Post by pferde »

isoskeles wrote: post #247
pferde wrote: post #220

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, you and the driver are supposed to exchange a keyword to make sure you got into the right car. That keyword happens to be a name by default because it's very... human, I guess, but it does not have to be your name. For taxis, I frequently use two or three random names common in my country.

> No, you and the driver are supposed to exchange a keyword to make sure you got into the right car. I've never heard of this. Where did you learn this? I'm not saying you're wrong either, as it makes sense. I've just never heard of it.

OK, not _supposed_, but it is a common practice, going back to traditional taxi services where you'd call a number and order a taxi to an address where you are. They'd ask you for your name which they'd also tell the driver they send you. On arrival, the driver would then ask the name when you're entering the car.

It's useful for busier locations, where more people would call for a taxi at the same time.

Re: Lyft’s algorithm is trying to block people with names like ‘Dick’ and ‘Cummings’

#269

Post by WAHa_06x36 »

mattkrause wrote: post #267
WAHa_06x36 wrote: post #241

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That really doesn't resolve anything, and just further demonstrates the really weird relationship with race and nationality that Americans have. Namely: Why would it be called "white EUROPEAN" when basically none of the people it is applied to are European in any reasonable sense of the word? They may have great-great-great-grandparents who were European, but that does not make them European. Americans do this all th…

> have zero exposure to the culture of that country. Even when that’s true—-and it often isn’t--they usually mean that they’re part of a specific American subculture. Italian-Americans, for example, traditionally celebrate Christmas Eve with a “Feast of the Seven Fishes.” This dinner isn’t traditional in Italy, but it’s also not common in other American cultures either. An Irish-American family might have a turkey in…

Sure, those that have their own culture do exists, but a lot of times, it's not even that.

It's a weird mindset, and it's definitely tied in to the toxic streak of white supremacy that runs through all of American culture.

Re: Lyft’s algorithm is trying to block people with names like ‘Dick’ and ‘Cummings’

#270

Post by cortesoft »

lokedhs wrote: post #219
cortesoft wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a nonsensical argument. A word has meaning, which is why it is a word and not a sound. If I yell insults at you, you are saying that doesn't mean anything? And if you get insulted, it is your own fault? No, words have meaning based on a common understanding between the person saying the word and the person hearing the word. If I insult you and you understand it, it is me who did the insulting, it is not 'your…

If you yell insults at me, I will be offended. It doesn't matter if the words you use are "fuck off", "f*k off" or even "would you be so kind as to vacate the premises by the violent application of a large phallic-shaped object on your rear end". The entire discussion here has been about being offended by a word, even though that word is used in a context which is not offensive at all.

Right, but that is because of a flaw in their attempts to fix the problem of trying to stop people who are setting their names in attempt to insult and offend people.

Some people are trying to insult and offend, so they set their names as offensive and insulting names... in an attempt to stop that, Lyft messed up and blocked non-offensive names that share the same words as the offensive ones.

That doesn't mean words can't be insulting and offensive, it just means context matters and algorithms have trouble with context.

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