5 days ago
Word ‘Welsh' is offensive, says AI
Artificial intelligence has flagged the word 'Welsh' as possibly offensive, one user has claimed.
Jake Oliver, 29, claimed an AI voice coach told him the speech he had written as best man for his friend's wedding could be offensive because he used the word 'Welsh'.
He was using Microsoft Teams' Speaker Coach to practice the speech, hoping to get feedback on his tone and speed, when he received the unusual feedback.
The voice coach told him the word 'Welsh' in his speech 'might be offensive or non-inclusive in some cases'.
The advice came despite Mr Oliver only referencing guests' nationalities in an unoffensive way. He said he didn't get a similar warning for the use of 'English'.
Mr Oliver claimed that he received the same unusual warning from an AI notetaker, a tool he was running ahead of a meeting when he discussed his weekend plans – the wedding – ahead of a Teams call with colleagues.
'I found it very odd'
Mr Oliver, a data analyst from Upton Park, London, said: 'It spooked me for a bit and I found it very odd. I don't know why Welsh is offensive, and we all agreed that it was not offensive.
'I told the groom afterwards, to get his views on the notification. He was taken aback by it and said that it was not offensive.
'He's very proud of being Welsh, and said he couldn't imagine being offended by the term.'
He claimed the words 'crazy' and 'insane' were also flagged because they could be offensive towards anyone with mental health issues.
'I've kept the AI feature on for now because I still find it useful for making sure I don't sound too boring in meetings, but I'm definitely taking its suggestions a bit less seriously since this happened.'
