Bot Gaffe bots gone wild, catalogued
Government

Both sides: Government

One tech, two sides: the fail and the win, filed together.

Bot Gaffe

Canada's AI Translation Tool Keeps Making Hilarious Mistakes

Wrong Calls Gaffe level: Blunder

Canada's federal government has been using an AI translation tool, GCtranslate, for about six months, and documents CBC/Radio-Canada obtained through a Freedom of Information request show it has been riddled with errors. It translated 'TB,' the abbreviation for the transportation bureau, as 'Tuberculosis,' changed someone's name from 'Mike' to 'Stephanie,' turned 'Buy Canadian Policy' into 'Buy a Canadian policy,' and rendered a shorthand for 'cumulative growth' as 'sperme croissance.' Experts warned that a bad translation on a tax form could exclude French speakers from a credit or benefit, and poor translations of equipment manuals could cause injuries. The tool is a pilot project, and translators are retraining the models.

Source: MobileSyrup

Bot Kudos

AI on WhatsApp Helped Rescue Four Trafficked Girls

Science Kudos level: Encore

Four girls from Okene in Kogi State, including a 14-year-old, were trafficked to Mali. One used AI on WhatsApp from a hidden phone, which gave her the contact for the head of operations at Nigeria's anti-trafficking agency, and the girls were rescued and repatriated through a coordinated effort. The AI's role was connecting her to the right rescuers.

Source: The Sun Nigeria

← All mixed signals