An “inclusive language” tool in Google Docs, which substitutes terms in documents that are deemed politically incorrect, has been halted, according to reports.
A Google representative, Jenny Thomson, compared the tool to a “thesaurus or spell checker” in a statement on Tuesday afternoon, emphasizing the company is “dedicated to making Google Docs useful for everyone.”
The Details
As she stated, “It’s a type of artificial intelligence that employs language comprehension models, based on millions of common words and phrases, to identify how people communicate and recommend modifications automatically.”
She pointed out, “inclusive language recommendations functions that assist writers can over or under correct particular sentences, depending on the context.”
“We’re taking a closer look at the inclusive language ideas and have put them on hold until we can conduct a more thorough analysis while we work to improve this functionality.”
According to The New York Post, the function would display pop-up warnings when phrases such as “policeman,” “fireman,” or “housewife” were used in a way that was deemed non-inclusive of both genders.
In addition, the feature may recommend that “humankind,” should be used in place of “mankind,” or the phrase “police officer,” instead of “policeman,” as an alternative.
According to Vice journalists who tested the feature, the phrases “annoyed” and “motherboard” were tagged as non-inclusive.
In contrast, a grossly racist transcript of a conversation with erstwhile Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke was just not highlighted.
Conversely, according to Vice, the feature stated Martin Luther King Jr. should have declared in his famed “I Have a Dream” address that civil rights leaders must act with “the intense urgency of now” rather than “the fierce urgency of now.”
The Absurdity of Its Recommendations
As per Vice, the feature also recommended that former President John F. Kennedy should have substituted the phrase “for all humankind” for the phrase “for all mankind” in his inauguration speech.
It says Jesus Christ should’ve used the words “marvelous,” “great,” or “lovely,” instead of “wonderful” in the Sermon on the Mount.
Confirming my view that PC language basically just means adding a lot of syllables:
Type ‘landlord’ in Google, and up pops a warning that it's not 'inclusive.' Suggests ‘property owner’ instead.
Five syllables replace two.https://t.co/M9sc9mWnnf
— Ann Coulter (@AnnCoulter) April 26, 2022
It comes at a time when conservatives are increasingly looking to create alternatives to woke corporate entities, enterprises, and social media platforms.
This includes the new credit card, Coign, the social media network GETTR, ex-president Donald Trump’s Truth Social, and RightForge, which provides a global broadband network.
The feature was not yet available on Google Docs as of midday on Tuesday.
Earlier last week, Vice claimed the function had been suspended, following complaints that it was obtrusive, woke, and otherwise “extremely broken.”
"Don’t you see that the whole aim of Newspeak is to narrow the range of thought? In the end we shall make thoughtcrime literally impossible, because there will be no words in which to express it."
– George Orwellhttps://t.co/D9An9jPgOc
— Debbie Hayton 🏳️⚧️🏳️🌈 (@DebbieHayton) April 25, 2022
Transgender activist Debbie Hayton said Google’s inclusion function was Orwellian in nature, writing on Twitter, “Don’t you realize that the whole point of Newspeak is to confine the variety of thought?”
As Silkie Carlo from the Big Brother Watch noted to the Sunday Telegraph, “Google’s new word alerts aren’t helpful; they’re highly invasive. In my opinion, this speech-policing is deeply awkward, creepy, and unethical; it frequently serves to reinforce bias.”
