iPhones are replacing 'Trump' with 'racist' during dictation but Apple is fixing the problem

Date:
Wed, 26 Feb 2025 14:11:39 +0000

Description:
Apple's speech-to-text engine has developed an unusual bug, which Apple says
it is aware of.

FULL STORY ======================================================================
- iOS is changing "Trump" to "racist" when transcribing
- Apple says the bug is now being fixed
- The official explanation is "phonetic overlap"

iPhone owners have noticed a peculiar bug in recent days: "Trump"
autocorrects to "racist" when using speech-to-text dictation mode. According
to Apple, it's a problem with "phonetic overlap", and a fix is already in the works.

After TikTok videos of the slip went viral, Apple provided a statement to The Guardian and others, blaming "phonetic overlap" between the two words: "We
are aware of an issue with the speech recognition model that powers
Dictation, and we are rolling out a fix as soon as possible," a spokesperson said.

While many people were able to recreate the blip, it didn't happen every time
and the text seemed to revert back to "Trump" after a short delay. The
latest reports online suggest Apple's fix has already taken effect, so you might not see it happening any more.

In its explanation, Apple suggested its speech recognition engines were struggling to distinguish between words with "r" in them. Further testing suggested iOS didn't always get the word "racist" right either, though historically Apple's speech-to-text engines have been very reliable.

Apple will be keen to draw a line under this as soon as possible and get the error corrected. It seems particularly unfortunate that a transcription bug like this would link two specific words sure to set off a wave of controversy and politically-charged debate.

Peter Bell, professor of speech technology at the University of Edinburgh,
told the BBC that Apple's explanation was "just not plausible" given what we know about speech-to-text technology. "It probably points to somebody that's got access to the process," said Bell.

John Burkey, founder of Wonderrush.ai, gave a similar option to the New York Times : "This smells like a serious prank," he said. "The only question is:
did someone slip this into the data or slip into the code?"

This also feeds into the wider conversation about AI and its reliability, as
AI models are used to convert the spoken word into transcribed text
something that you can now do on any modern smartphone. Whether it's meeting notes or show subtitles , we need to be able to rely on the accuracy of this fast-spreading technology.

======================================================================
Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/phones/iphone/iphones-are-replacing-trump-with-racis t-during-dictation-but-apple-is-fixing-the-problem

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In its explanation, Apple suggested its speech recognition engines were struggling to distinguish between words with "r" in them. Further testing suggested iOS didn't always get the word "racist" right either, though historically Apple's speech-to-text engines have been very reliable.

A "prank" is putting it softly. It's large scale propaganda, and it's probably even more effective than dropping leaflets from an airplane.

People love their phones, and I mean really, really love their phones. If the phone don't like Trump, then the owner won't like Trump either. And only people triggered by racism would be typing that word in the first place.

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In its explanation, Apple suggested its speech recognition engines were struggling to distinguish between words with "r" in them. Further testing
suggested iOS didn't always get the word "racist" right either, though historically Apple's speech-to-text engines have been very reliable.

A "prank" is putting it softly. It's large scale propaganda, and it's probably
even more effective than dropping leaflets from an airplane.

I certainly have a hard time buying their actual excuse, which you quoted above. I suspect someone did it on purpose and either forgot to remove it
or let it out on purpose.


* SLMR 2.1a * Shake, a man of note, wrote so many things to quote.
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even more effective than dropping leaflets from an airplane.

I certainly have a hard time buying their actual excuse, which you quoted above. I suspect someone did it on purpose and either forgot to remove
it or let it out on purpose.

Apple has every right to try to propagate their customers, but it's sleazy, and they seem ignorant to the fact that brainwashing failed bigtime, and that the majority of American voters are too intelligent for that crap.

I take it back what I said about "people love their phones so much," because although it seems that way sometimes, they love their country more than they love their phones.

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A49 2023/04/30 (Windows/64)
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