Google Assistant failed at censoring itself from saying the N-word

However, a fast remedy won’t make up for those who have truly sinned.

It is a truth that BIPOC people are not sufficiently modeled when developing artificial intelligence-related technology. There are certainly more serious discussions to be addressed regarding the white and some select non-white groups who hold the majority of high-ranking, well-paying positions in Silicon Valley. Simply said, we are aware that issues can arise with both the product and the employees that support it. I don’t think we should be surprised when errors like these happen and we end up having to question, “How did no one think of this?” Google tries here and there with initiatives like its Real Tone photo filters.

User @ohgustie of TikTok shared a video in which Google Assistant is heard repeating the titles of music that she asked to be played on her Home/Nest Mini speaker.

Assistant said, “Okay, ‘Ain’t sh-*bleep*-t’ by Doja Cat,” when asked to play “Ain’t Shit” by Doja Cat.

A$”Fuckin’ AP’s Problems” “F-asterisk-k-in’ Problems” replaced Rocky.

While listening to songs like “Ni**as in Paris” by Kanye and Jay-Z or “Ni**a What, Ni**a Who,” also by Jay-Z, Assistant did not filter his use of the N-word.

In an interview with Gizmodo, @ohgustie, who also goes by Shay, mentioned that Assistant used to filter the N-word with asterisks, much as in the song “Fuckin’ Problems.” She was curious, though, and decided to hear if Assistant would bleep the N-word after hearing it bleep an other vulgarity recently (it didn’t).

Shay thought that Google didn’t appear to care “Hey, maybe we should stop and talk about this, you glance around and say. It’s a problem because there aren’t many people there that resemble me.”

When questioned about the issue, a Google spokesman declined to go into specifics regarding the organization’s censorship standards for Assistant but did offer an apology and state that the issue had been resolved.

The N-word was indeed bleeped when Shay tested the Assistant while speaking with Gizmodo.

In a limited consumer-to-service interaction, there are no additional contextual peculiarities to take into account when this is the default experience.

And this is why diversity is so important for excellent corporate governance in the tech industry. Like, totally right.