Google’s AI-powered ‘inclusive warnings’ feature is very broken

Post by layer8 » Fri, Apr 22, 2022, 7:29 PM UTC

shp0ngle wrote: post #334

user3939382 wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If we're going to play this game, I think dissuading people from using "mother" in the example of "motherboard" is offensive. Mothers are the source of human life on earth, and in that capacity are revered and honored. When we say motherboard, we're making an analogy that suggests the board's significance and universal connection to everything. To discourage the term as an analogy for things that are a universal sour…

The official PC term is now “birthing person”, “birthing people”, “people giving birth” and similar. Think of that what you will.

Post by layer8 » Fri, Apr 22, 2022, 7:33 PM UTC

dxhdr wrote: post #383

tedsanders wrote: post #272

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Putting myself in the shoes of a kid learning about computers, I find some of these phrases to be more clear, not less clear. Two examples: Allowlist and denylist are much clearer to a kid learning about computers than whitelist or blacklist. If you've never heard of whitelist before, it's sounds like a list of things that are white. If you've never of allowlist, it's pretty obvious what it means - a list of things t…

> Mainboard implies there's one main board. Motherboard could be more ambiguous to someone who's never seen the inside of a computer. Are there two boards, mother and father? Am I crazy or does mainboard strongly imply there's more than one -- eg main, supporting / secondary, etc? Stories have a main character which is almost by definition not the only character in the narrative.

Post by silisili » Fri, Apr 22, 2022, 7:35 PM UTC

mgraczyk wrote: post #9

In the article they use the example of "Motherboard" and "Landlord" and seem to suggest that these are areas where the Google AI is making mistakes or being overly strict. As a Google employee expressing my own opinion and observations of company culture, I can say that these are 100% not mistakes. Many Google employees are just so out of touch with the real world that they believe it is the duty of Google Docs to ch…

Post by bentcorner » Fri, Apr 22, 2022, 7:35 PM UTC

augustuspolius wrote: post #72

krastanov wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am incredulous at the "mother" to "birthing person" requirement. I have seen one or two people with such prescriptive views on language but the vast majority of people I know consider it ridiculous. And I am in an incredibly "woke" social bubble.

Encountering this aspect of the culture war always makes me wonder why are tech companies so focused on these gender minorities and not, say, on the disabled groups. There are more blind, deaf, mute (etc, etc) people in the US than transgender people who will bear a child. It would be equally incoherent to attempt to replace all usages of “see”, “hear” with “perceive”.

Post by [deleted] » Fri, Apr 22, 2022, 7:36 PM UTC

olalonde wrote: post #42

mgraczyk wrote: post #9

In the article they use the example of "Motherboard" and "Landlord" and seem to suggest that these are areas where the Google AI is making mistakes or being overly strict. As a Google employee expressing my own opinion and observations of company culture, I can say that these are 100% not mistakes. Many Google employees are just so out of touch with the real world that they believe it is the duty of Google Docs to ch…

Reminds me of when GitHub stopped using "master" for the default branch because it was somehow offensive.