iPhone dictation feature transcribes word ‘racist’ as ‘Trump,’ Apple says working on fix

The glitch spotted on social media went viral, with users finding irony in Apple’s ties to the Democratic party; Innocent AI error or something deeper? You decide.

Raphael Kahan|
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Apple is facing some embarrassment after a bug in its transcription app caused some iPhone users to report a strange bug while using Apple’s automatic dictation feature, where the word "racist" briefly appeared as "Trump" before correcting itself.
Apple’s spokesperson explained that the issue occurs when words sound similar, as the glitch was also observed when typing the words "rampant," and "rampage." The company acknowledged the problem and promised to release a fix.
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נשיא ארה"ב דונלד טראמ
נשיא ארה"ב דונלד טראמ
United States President Donald Trump
(Photo: Jim Watson/ AFP)
The glitch, first spotted on social media, quickly went viral, with many users finding humor in the irony of the bug, especially considering Apple’s support of the Democratic Party in recent years.
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הביקור של טראמפ במפעל אפל
הביקור של טראמפ במפעל אפל
(Photo: Reuters)
A Wall Street Journal investigation found that the issue extends beyond Trump, affecting names like "Reinald." Additionally, the bug appears only when the word is typed multiple times in succession, which seems to support Apple's explanation.
It may be amusing, but it also demonstrates how incomplete Apple's AI is likely to be. It's unclear whether the bug stems from a glitch in the transcription engine running behind the scenes or simply from biased data fed into it during the training process. It's not just Apple that has suffered from such problems. In fact, almost every tech company that has launched an AI product has suffered from embarrassing mistakes. Microsoft, for example, was forced to apologize for a hysterical chatbot that cursed users, early versions of Gemini displayed images of black Nazi soldiers or suggested users eat rocks to improve their health.
Since Trump returned to the White House, Cook has worked hard to endear himself to the new president. Cook even attended Trump's inauguration to honor him. So AI hallucinations or not, this is a phenomenon that could cause tension between the company and America's new boss.
Apple has already announced its investment and hiring as well as the establishment of a new factory in Houston, Texas, a state where many of its residents are staunch Trump supporters. Let's hope for his sake that this will be enough to appease the president, who is known for his tendency to get angry easily.
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