A glitch faulting “phonetic overlap” prompted accusations of “BS and bias” after a troubling term was linked with President Donald Trump’s name on iPhones.
(Video Credit: Fox News)
On the path to “Make America Great Again,” the 45th and 47th president’s agenda marked another significant commitment for domestic manufacturing Monday when Apple pledged an investment exceeding $500 billion over the next four years. However, the promise to hire 20,000 employees was partially tarnished as iPhone users discovered that dictating the word “racist” briefly suggested “Trump” instead.
A statement from Apple noted on Wednesday: “We are aware of an issue with the speech recognition model that powers dictation, and we are rolling out a fix today.”
Attempting to explain the issue, the tech giant suggested a problem with phonetic overlap along with a purported issue of words with a spoken “r” that could produce the same result as videos across social media captured the glitch in action.
Reporting on the story, Fox News @ Night host Trace Gallagher confirmed the problem during the “Common Sense Department” segment while also challenging the explanation from Apple.
Noting that the error had been tested “several times and it happened several times,” the host detailed, “Apple says the glitch is totally innocent, totally understandable.”
“Turns out the problem is with phonetic overlap. That’s a techie way of saying words that sound the same. You know, like Trump — and racist,” he continued, incredulous.
“It’s funny because ‘Common Sense’ did its own phonetic overlap evaluation using an iPhone to dictate words like grump, frump, slump and crump,” all resulting in the actual word spoken without suggesting Trump. By comparison, the words “racist,” “rampage,” and “ruffle” that sound nothing like the president’s name all resulted in the same glitch.
“So basically, on an iPhone, ‘racist, rampage and ruffle,’ is actually, ‘Trump, Trump, Trump.’ And these glitches always go the same way,” contended Gallagher, who reminded viewers about an issue before the election with Amazon’s Alexa.
At the time, a glaringly partisan response was served up by the service when prompted for reasons to vote for Trump or then-Vice President Kamala Harris.
“I cannot provide content that promotes a specific political party or a specific candidate,” Alexa could be heard saying in a video when asked about the GOP leader, only to then rattle off “a proven track record of accomplishment” and “a commitment to progressive ideals” when questioned about why someone might vote for Harris.
‘Commie operative!’ Video of folks questioning Amazon’s Alexa about Trump, Harris will blow you away https://t.co/OgjYKt7x7N via @BIZPACReview
— BPR based (@DumpstrFireNews) September 3, 2024
“‘Common Sense’ knows a lot about technology, censorship and partisanship, so when it comes to iPhone’s converting ‘racist’ to ‘Trump,’ we’re calling BS and bias, which, by the way, is phonetical overlap,” quipped Gallagher.
Still, as with Jeff Bezos and Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg, Apple CEO Tim Cook donated $1 million to Trump’s inaugural fund and was lauded by the president after announcing the company’s investment in American manufacturing.
“From doubling our Advanced Manufacturing Fund to building advanced technology in Texas, we’re thrilled to expand our support for American manufacturing. And we’ll keep working with people and companies across this country to help write an extraordinary new chapter in the history of American innovation,” Cook said as Trump reacted in part on Truth Social, “THANK YOU TIME COOK AND APPLE!!!”
Native of Brooklyn, NY, Kevin Haggerty is a graduate of Hunter College where he studied Cultural Anthropology and Geography. An avid reader and truth seeker, he currently resides in Texas with his wife and their dog and, when he isn't researching current events and their impacts, you'll find him spending time with friends and family or working on his next novel.
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