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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’

#91

Post by zulln »

true_religion wrote: post #79
danso wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I just tried to create a driver's account on Lyft's website. There's an initial page where you give them your name. And then, deeper into the process, a form for supplying your name as it officially appears on your driver's license. Which makes sense. There's likely a lot of drivers who want to go by "Tom" instead of "Thomas" or whatever their full official name is – which is even more important for drivers with very…

I hear the argument but taxi drivers were always required to show their real name, so the same should apply to Lyft drivers. The privacy of the driver is outweighed by the need for the public to feel they will safely be taken to their destination in an enclosed vehicle totally controlled by another party.

> I hear the argument but taxi drivers were always required to show their real name, so the same should apply to Lyft drivers.

You can definitely argue that they should show their real name, but it is not a good argument that because taxi requires it, lyft should as well.

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

#92

Post by bradleyankrom »

unlinked_dll wrote: post #83
rubyn00bie wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A bit of a tangent but you reminded me-- and maybe, I'm totally full of shit or like my memory is wrong, but the iPhone predicting profanity was my favorite feature. For YEARS it would never write "duck" instead of "fuck," and generally was great, but then (and this is the like maybe I'm totally wrong part) after Jobs passed away that stopped completely... and now I get this bullshit I have to fucking correct all the…

iOS autocorrect has always been terrible, it’s not exclusive to profanity. Both in terms of its performance and experience. Its incredibly frustrating to use when it autocorrects words 3-4 words later, and navigating text fields has become significantly more difficult on recent versions of iOS. Android is the superior experience in almost every UX category imo, and text handling is the best example of that. sent from…

For the life of me I cannot get “may” to stop autocorrecting to “May”

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

#93

Post by danso »

true_religion wrote: post #79
danso wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I just tried to create a driver's account on Lyft's website. There's an initial page where you give them your name. And then, deeper into the process, a form for supplying your name as it officially appears on your driver's license. Which makes sense. There's likely a lot of drivers who want to go by "Tom" instead of "Thomas" or whatever their full official name is – which is even more important for drivers with very…

I hear the argument but taxi drivers were always required to show their real name, so the same should apply to Lyft drivers. The privacy of the driver is outweighed by the need for the public to feel they will safely be taken to their destination in an enclosed vehicle totally controlled by another party.

I'm not sure what the official rule is for NYC's taxis when it comes to the name display; fwiw you can see the official list of medallion license numbers and associated names here:

https://data.cityofnewyork.us/Transportation/Medallion-Drive...

In any case, rules are different for different jurisdictions and entities. If NYC TLC did have that requirement, then it's possible that real name display is mandatory for Lyft drivers operating in NYC, given that TLC has some oversight over services like Lyft. However, TLC also has some say over livery cabs. It's been awhile since I've been in a livery cab, but I think they do operate under different requirements in terms of what's required for display.

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

#94

Post by somebodythere »

clSTophEjUdRanu wrote: post #77
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…

I had a friend named Hung Wang who was pissed Microsoft wouldn't let him make that his gamertag. "I'm so sorry my name is offensive!"

I have a friend named Aryan who was not allowed to sign up for a Microsoft account with that name. Support even refused to make the exception when asked, suggesting that he sign up with the name "Ryan" instead.

To this day, emails from that account have "Ryan " in the header.

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

#95

Post by rubyn00bie »

unlinked_dll wrote: post #83
rubyn00bie wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A bit of a tangent but you reminded me-- and maybe, I'm totally full of shit or like my memory is wrong, but the iPhone predicting profanity was my favorite feature. For YEARS it would never write "duck" instead of "fuck," and generally was great, but then (and this is the like maybe I'm totally wrong part) after Jobs passed away that stopped completely... and now I get this bullshit I have to fucking correct all the…

iOS autocorrect has always been terrible, it’s not exclusive to profanity. Both in terms of its performance and experience. Its incredibly frustrating to use when it autocorrects words 3-4 words later, and navigating text fields has become significantly more difficult on recent versions of iOS. Android is the superior experience in almost every UX category imo, and text handling is the best example of that. sent from…

Yeah, the whole "replace a block of text" auto-correct can be a fucking nightmare, but I personaly haven't had bad performance. Maybe I'm just not remembering it... or I'm not thinking of all the uses cases.

On Android the latency of the screen has always bothered me when typing so much I can't notice anything else, but I haven't had a high-end Android device in years where that could be remedied (I was very tempted by the OnePlus 7 but didn't want to fork over the cash just to try).

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

#96

Post by afandian »

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?

Precisely the opposite.

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

#99

Post by nkrisc »

teh_klev wrote: post #85
nkrisc wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're offended by the beeps? Well now you now how the people offended by those words feel. Edit: People seem to think I'm offended by those words. I'm not.

They're just words. You can always turn the TV off. See also: https://youtu.be/78OevDyH7-Y?t=187

I'm not offended by words. I was just talking about other people. Some people are offended by words, some are apparently offended by others being offended.

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

#100

Post by cortesoft »

qwerty456127 wrote: post #46
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…

This is all bullshit anyway. A word is just a word and whenever it insults somebody it's their own problem. I would rather change my actual name to Fuck if I wasn't too lazy to deal with problems like that. I once read a story of a Vietnamese man named Hui. He had to go to the court to protect his right to be named this way in Ukraine where the word is used widely and has only one meaning - a dick.

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 problem'

You should try this argument out in court: "No, your honor... I can't be guilty of threatening to kill someone.. sure I said, 'I am going to kill you tomorrow at 5pm', but those were just words! If the person felt threatened, that is on them!"

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