Latest news with #AfricanAmericanVernacularEnglish
News18
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- News18
Delulu? It's Giving Confused! Gen Z Lingo Explained Are You Still a ‘Beige Flag'?
Ever seen 'delulu' on your feed and thought it was a typo? Wondered why someone's calling their snack a 'girl dinner'? Welcome to the world of Gen Z slang — where everything is 'a vibe,' nothing is just okay (it's mid), and everyone is either a red, green, or beige this episode of TBC, we break down the viral language shaping how Gen Z communicates online and offline. From 'main character energy' to 'iykyk,' we decode the lingo with help from our newsroom crash course and a panel of Gen Z there's a deeper layer. Some of these catchy phrases have origins in African American Vernacular English (AAVE) — a dialect rooted in Black culture that's long influenced pop culture. So, how much of Gen Z slang is really new?Watch till the end for the ultimate slang quiz! n18oc_lifestyle News18 Mobile App - 'Cheater' CEO Andy Byron Resigns After Coldplay Kiss Cam Scandal With HR Head Sparks Backlash; N18G Are Labubus Evil? People Set Dolls On Fire After Chilling Theory Links Them To Demon Pazuzu | N18G Prada Kolhapuri Chappal Controversy: Team Meets Local Artisans In Kolhapur After Backlash | N18G Kate Middleton & Princess Charlotte Set Twinning Goals With Royal Looks At Wimbledon Finals; N18G trending news 'Don' director Chandra Barot dies at 86 'Urban River Management Plan' launched to clean Yamuna in Delhi Mumbai Wadala-Thane Metro-4: MMRDA Installs Steel Span Above Ghodbunder Without Disturbing Traffic Will India Bounce Back In Manchester? Suresh Raina's Massive Take: 'They Will...' latest news
Forbes
4 days ago
- Forbes
How Your Words Shape ChatGPT's Recommendations
Vibrant vector illustration. Different speech bubbles with hand drawn doodles and textures. Social ... More Media Communication concept. Ever notice how ChatGPT seems to "get" you better some days than others? It's not your imagination, but your language pattern. The way you phrase your questions — your choice of words, your dialect, even your cultural references — is quietly steering the AI's responses in ways you probably never realized. Think about it: Ask ChatGPT for career advice in formal English, then try the same question using slang or a regional dialect. The recommendations you get back might be surprisingly different. This isn't a bug — it's a feature of how language models work, and it's reshaping how we interact with AI every single day. When Your Dialect Becomes Your Disadvantage Here's something that should make us uncomfortable: ChatGPT treats different varieties of English very differently. Researchers at UC Berkeley discovered that if you speak African American Vernacular English, Scottish English, or other non-"standard" varieties, ChatGPT is more likely to respond with stereotypes, condescending explanations, and misunderstandings. The numbers are intriguing: 19% more stereotyping, 25% more demeaning content and 15% more condescending responses compared to "standard" English. Imagine asking for job interview tips and getting subtly different advice just because of how you naturally speak. This isn't just about grammar — it's about equity in AI access. The Politics Hidden In Our Prompts ChatGPT is not neutral. Different AI systems lean in different political directions — ChatGPT tends liberal, Perplexity skews conservative, while Google's Gemini tries to play it down the middle. This means when you ask for advice on controversial topics — from climate change to economic policy — the language you use might trigger different political framings. Ask about "green energy solutions" versus "energy independence," and you might get recommendations that reflect these underlying biases. The Gender Trap In AI Advice Women seeking career guidance face a particularly tricky landscape. ChatGPT shows both subtle and obvious gender biases, sometimes suggesting that women prioritize marriage over career advancement or steering them toward traditionally "female" professions. These biases often appear in the framing of recommendations rather than explicit statements. A woman asking about work-life balance might get suggestions emphasizing family considerations, while a man asking the same question gets advice focused on career optimization. How Students Are Gaming The System Students have become inadvertent experts at understanding how language shapes AI responses. They've discovered that ChatGPT provides more personalized, flexible feedback when they frame their learning requests in specific ways. Some students report feeling like ChatGPT is a study companion, while others find it cold and impersonal. The difference? Often just how they phrase their questions. "Help me understand calculus" gets a different response than "I'm struggling with calculus and feeling overwhelmed." Global Language Lottery If English isn't your first language, you're playing a different game entirely. Research across different cultural contexts shows that cultural and linguistic backgrounds dramatically influence not just how users interact with AI, but what recommendations they receive. A business owner in Singapore asking for marketing advice might get suggestions that reflect Western business practices, while someone asking the same question with American cultural references gets more locally relevant recommendations. Why This Matters We might not realize it but every interaction with AI is a linguistic negotiation. You think you're asking neutral questions and getting objective answers. In reality, you're participating in a complex dance where your word choices, cultural references and even your grammar are shaping the advice you receive. This isn't just an academic concern — it's affecting real decisions. Job seekers, students, entrepreneurs and anyone turning to AI for guidance are getting recommendations filtered through linguistic biases they never knew existed. The Path Forward: Your Language Toolkit Understanding how language influences AI recommendations isn't about feeling helpless — it's about becoming a more strategic user. Here is a practical toolkit: Acknowledge that your language choices matter. The way you ask questions isn't neutral — it's an active part of getting better recommendations. Adapt your communication style strategically. Try asking the same question in different ways: formal versus casual, with different cultural references, or from different perspectives. Assess the responses you get with fresh eyes. Ask yourself: would someone from a different background get the same advice? Amplify diverse perspectives by consciously varying your language patterns. This helps you access a broader range of recommendations. Advocate for more transparent AI systems. As more people understand linguistic bias, we can push for AI that serves everyone more fairly. The future of AI interaction isn't just about better technology — it's about better understanding how our words shape the digital minds we're increasingly relying on. By becoming more intentional about how we communicate with AI, we can get better recommendations while working toward more equitable systems for everyone. Your words have power. Language is an asset or a liability in an AI-infused society. Lets speak and type to harness it deliberately in view of the outcomes we want.
Indian Express
16-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Indian Express
Is the new Superman movie ‘too woke' or just true to its origins?
Written by Shaarvi Magazine Even before the movie's release in the United States this month, the Superman reboot received criticism from conservative commentators for allegedly pandering to liberal values and 'wokeness'. Director James Gunn calling the superhero character an 'immigrant' and speaking about the movie displaying 'human kindness' in an interview set off the comments. But despite the outrage, it has become the most commercially successful Superman film to date, surpassing $220 million at the global box office already. However, it has prompted a broader question: Is the franchise diverging from its roots, or simply rediscovering the inclusive spirit that defined Superman from day one? The term 'woke' is used with some trepidation today. Its use in common parlance has evolved from its origins in African American Vernacular English (AAVE), when it was used as slang for 'awake'. According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, 'Woke is a slang term that is easing into the mainstream from some varieties of a dialect called African American Vernacular English (sometimes called AAVE). In AAVE, awake is often rendered as woke, as in, 'I was sleeping, but now I'm woke.'' The idea of awakening has been associated with the Civil Rights Movement in the US. An article in The Conversation states how in 1965, civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr gave an address called 'Remaining Awake Through a Great Revolution' at Oberlin College, where he said: 'There is nothing more tragic than to sleep through a revolution… The wind of change is blowing, and we see in our day and our age a significant development… The great challenge facing every individual graduating today is to remain awake through this social revolution.' Even today, the idea of awakening signals the need to stay aware or vigilant in the face of threats of violence, with laws still denying basic rights to Black people in many spheres of life, ranging from their free movement to voting. Merriam-Webster noted that the word 'woke' has been embedded into Black artists' music, which has often been political in its references and lyrics. Further, it noted that 'stay woke' and 'woke' became part of a wider discussion in 2014, following the shooting of 18-year-old Black man Michael Brown in the US at the hands of a police officer. The word became associated with discussions around police brutality and the Black Lives Matter movement, which was campaigning against it. For progressive groups, the word's now-common usage means many are not aware of its activism-heavy history. There is a concern that it has gotten divorced from these roots and is now casually used, including by those who are already powerful in society, to sound politically correct without taking any meaningful action. For conservatives, woke means an identity-driven way of driving change, and particularly in the US this is at odds with ideas of liberalism and capitalism – that anyone who wants to be successful can 'make it' through hard work alone, and social identities are no longer determining such things. 'Woke' ultimately stands for maintaining vigilance, where some feel it needs to be stronger in its message, while others question the very need for doing so. For a long time, Superman was the archetype of a superhero, decades before the Marvel superheroes captured the popular imagination. For the uninitiated, the DC Comics hero came from the doomed planet of Krypton. His parents sent him to Earth to ensure his safety, and he was raised in Smallville, Kansas, by his adoptive family. His alter ego is Clark Kent, a reporter who often gets exclusive stories on Superman's antics for The Daily Planet newspaper. 'Superman is as much a legend as he is a man: the gold standard of heroism, compassion and responsibility,' the DC website says. Right-wing commentators have criticised the latest movie on two fronts. First, the storyline has drawn parallels with the ongoing war in Gaza. It opens with Superman (played by David Corenswet) being interviewed by his love interest and fellow Daily Planet reporter Lois Lane (Rachel Brosnahan). Superman has just stopped the country of Boravia from invading its neighbouring Jarhanpur. Boravia is shown as a well-armed nation with US support, while Jarhanpur lacks such resources. Some moviegoers have interpreted this as referencing Israel's military attacks on Gaza and viewed the film's messaging as being anti-Israel. Gunn said in an interview, 'When I wrote this, the Middle Eastern conflict wasn't happening. So I tried to do little things to move it away from that, but it doesn't have anything to do with the Middle East… It really is fictional.' Moreover, the countries of Boravia and Jarhanpur originated from the comics, with Boravia first being mentioned in Superman #2 in 1939, and Jarhanpur first appearing in the JHLA#62 issue in 2002, according to the DC Comics blog. Second is the immigration issue, which has been front and centre in US politics in recent years. Gunn told The Sunday Times in an interview, 'I mean, Superman is the story of America. An immigrant who came from other places and populated the country, but for me, it is mostly a story that says basic human kindness is a value and is something we have lost.' In the movie, Superman's archnemesis, Lex Luthor, screams 'ALIEN!' at him. The term 'illegal alien' is often used in real-life conversations as a pejorative against immigrants, but it is also literal in Superman's case. He responds, 'I'm as human as anyone. I love, I get scared. I wake up every morning and, despite not knowing what to do, I put one foot in front of the other and I try to make the best choices I can. I screw up all the time, but that's being human. And that's my greatest strength…' Other similar instances depict Superman as an epitome of kindness who does not promote violence or killing. Conservative critics argue that the character has undergone a politically charged transformation. The right-wing media organisation Fox News called the film 'Superwoke,' saying it featured 'pro-immigrant' themes. Kellyanne Conway, former adviser to US President Donald Trump, said, 'We don't go to the movie theatre to be lectured to, and to have somebody throw their ideology onto us.' Actor Dean Cain, who played Superman in the 1990s, questioned whether the approach distracts from the story's core values of 'truth, justice and the American way,' calling Gunn's statement a 'mistake'. 'The 'American way' is immigrant-friendly, tremendously immigrant-friendly. But there are rules… We can't have everybody, society will fail. So there have to be limits,' he added. To suggest that the latest iteration of Superman is a result of supposed excessive championing of progressive values ignores his origins in 1938, a year before World War 2. Jewish creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster crafted the 'Man of Steel', partly in response to rising fascism, an ultranationalist and authoritarian political ideology, in Europe. From the beginning, Superman was more than a vigilante against street crime; he represented hope and resistance against hatred. In 1940, Nazi party-owned publications like Das Schwarze Korps, of the paramilitary group Schutzstaffel (SS), even condemned the character. Superman initially fought corrupt politicians, gangsters, and oppressive systems, but by the 1940s, he directly opposed fascist villains. The 1940 comics story How Superman Would End The War sees him bringing the villain, Adolf Hitler, to trial. Gunn's film also explicitly draws on classic sources that celebrated Superman's moral backbone. A DC Comics website article says he has cited some older comics, like Superman: Birthright (2003–04), which redefine Clark Kent's immigrant experience. Gunn has also expressed his love for the early comics, when Superman 'was just punching down walls and didn't have any heat vision or X-ray vision.' In fact, the film harks back to the classic, more playful nature of the early comics in many other ways. The inclusion of Superman's pet dog, Krypto, and moments like Clark cooking breakfast for Lois, or the nostalgic score referencing the iconic music composer John Williams, subtly reinforce the original's earnest charm. This was something missing from the darker recent revivals, such as Man of Steel (2013) and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016), both of which failed to impress the critics and audiences alike. Notably, immigration reform organisation Define American launched a campaign in 2013 to coincide with the release of Man of Steel, titled 'Superman is an immigrant'. The writer is a summer intern at The Indian Express.
Black America Web
29-06-2025
- Science
- Black America Web
Howard University And Google Team Up To Advance AI Speech Recognition For African American English
Source: Liubomyr Vorona / Getty In a significant move toward advancing inclusivity in technology, Howard University and Google Research have unveiled a new dataset designed to enhance how automatic speech recognition (ASR) systems serve Black users. The collaboration, part of Project Elevate Black Voices , involved researchers traveling nationwide to document the unique dialects, accents, and speech patterns commonly found in Black communities, features often misinterpreted or ignored by current AI systems. The project spotlights African American English (AAE)—also known as African American Vernacular English, Black English, Ebonics, or simply 'Black talk'—a culturally rich and historically rooted linguistic form. Due to systemic bias in the development of AI tools, Black users have frequently encountered errors or been misunderstood by voice technologies, sometimes feeling pressured to alter their natural speech just to be recognized by these systems— a classic form of code switching. Researchers at Howard University and Google are on a mission to change this. 'African American English has been at the forefront of United States culture since almost the beginning of the country,' shared Gloria Washington, Ph.D., a Howard University researcher and the co-principal investigator of Project Elevate Black Voices , in a press release. 'Voice assistant technology should understand different dialects of all African American English to truly serve not just African Americans, but other persons who speak these unique dialects. It's about time that we provide the best experience for all users of these technologies.' To build this groundbreaking dataset, researchers gathered 600 hours of speech from participants representing various AAE dialects across 32 states. The goal was to confront hidden barriers that hinder the effectiveness of automatic speech recognition (ASR) systems for Black users. One of the key findings was that AAE is significantly underrepresented in existing speech datasets, not because the language isn't spoken, but because many Black users have been socially conditioned to alter their natural speech when interacting with voice technology. This phenomenon, often rooted in the need to be understood by systems that don't recognize AAE, leads to a lack of authentic representation. A 2023 Google blog post highlighted another challenge: privacy and security policies, while essential, create additional constraints on the collection of AAE-specific voice data. These self-imposed limits make it harder to amass the scale and authenticity of data required to close the gap in performance. Despite these challenges, progress is being made. Researchers are now using dialect classifiers to identify AAE within broader datasets, a promising first step toward building more inclusive technologies. Howard University will maintain ownership and licensing rights to the dataset, serving as its ethical guardian to ensure it's used responsibly and for the benefit of Black communities. Google, in turn, will be able to use the dataset to enhance its own ASR products, part of a broader effort to make AI tools more equitable across dialects, languages, and accents globally. SEE MORE: What Are Racial Microaggressions? Black Culture, White Face: How the Internet Helped Hijack Our Culture SEE ALSO Howard University And Google Team Up To Advance AI Speech Recognition For African American English was originally published on
Time of India
27-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Time of India
Somi under fire again, as new teaser for the digital single drops - fans call out use of deepfake and AI
K-pop soloist Jeon Somi is all set for a banging comeback; however, the idol has already started facing backlash ahead of the song drop. Recently, she shared a moving photo for her upcoming comeback, and while most fans expressed excitement over the drop, many started criticising the idol and her agency for using deepfake and AI tech to create the video. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now Somi drops new moving image teaser for digital comeback Ever since Somi announced that she will be making a comeback soon with her new digital single 'EXTRA', fans of the idol have been celebrating. While most have been excited for the comeback, the idol has still managed to find herself in the middle of online debates. Previously, when Somi shared lyric teasers from the song that read 'Tried to give my hunnit to you, But you want that 101', fans started calling the singer out for using AAVE (African American Vernacular English) while being Korean and White herself. Many even commented that the lyrics itself does not make any sense either. Now, the singer and her agency find themselves in the middle of another heated debate after a new teaser was dropped on June 26. Somi and her agency criticised for using deepfake and AI Somi's latest teaser shows the idol with heavy doll-like makeup, short blond hair, staring at the camera while a heart shape starts burning on her shirt. As soon as the teaser dropped, fans called out the obvious use of AI and deepfake in the video. Many cited environmental and moral concerns about using deepfakes and AI for creating content, and stated that the company could've avoided releasing the moving photo teaser in this format. One fan's comment read 'maybe if your ass stopped using ai you wouldn't be flopping this hard,' while another post stated that 'excited for the single but using ai was not a good idea.' Many fans of the idol also defended her by saying that only her company should be called out, since the decision ultimately lies with them. One fan's post read that 'why are people calling somi the lazy one when it's clearly the black label's fault for using AI not her? she isn't the one editing her pictures (doesn't mean i agree with them using AI on her comeback teasers)'
