iPhone’s Dictation Feature Momentarily Transcribes Word “Racist” As “Trump”; Apple Working On Fix
Apple is working on a fix for its text-to-speech feature, which momentarily transcribes the word “racist” as “Trump.”
“We are aware of an issue with the speech recognition model that powers Dictation, and we are rolling out a fix today,” an Apple spokesperson told Deadline.
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The bug happens when an iPhone user uses the Dictation feature, which allows someone to use their voice and then transcribe it into text. While using Dictation, if someone says the word “racist,” it momentarily changes the word to “Trump” before reverting to “racist” once again.
Apple says they are addressing the bug when users dictate words that include an “R” consonant. The tech company says that during analysis of the speech recognition models, they sometimes begin displaying words that phonetically sound familiar before identifying the words that the user intended to use.
The iOS bug has created a lot of chatter on social media after users tried to recreate it on their mobile devices.
Donald Trump has been highly divisive during his second term in office, coming into the White House and gutting DEI initiatives that gave people of color a chance to be seen. Trump has signed several executive orders stripping DEI programs, trans rights, and other equality measures from the federal government, its contractors, and federally funded organizations since taking office on January 20.
In addition, Trump has targeted undocumented immigrants living in the United States, with the Department of Homeland Security saying in January it was ending a policy that restricted ICE agents from arresting undocumented people at houses of worship, schools, and hospitals.
“Criminals will no longer be able to hide in America’s schools and churches to avoid arrest. The Trump Administration will not tie the hands of our brave law enforcement, and instead trusts them to use common sense,” the DHS said in a statement.
The Latino community in the U.S. has been primarily affected by these raids, with celebrities like Selena Gomez breaking down in tears over Trump’s policies.
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