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   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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