Online Translation Service Offends Users

China’s most frequently used messaging app, WeChat, has apologised after a racist slur was used in an online translation via their app.

A theatre director based in Shanghai messaged her colleagues in English, using the WeChat app, to say she was running late.

When her co-worker replied in Chinese, using the words “hei laowai” the app translated “black foreigner” (a neutral phrase in Chinese) into “nigger”.

WeChat uses a Neural Machine Translation (NMT), similar to Google and Microsoft. This AI software uses deep learning and representation learning to store vast quantities of language, discern specific contexts and recognise patterns within languages.

However, on this occasion the program may have used the word “late” as a negative term and used an insult instead.

WeChat have since apologised and state they have now fixed the problem with the translation service.

NMTs are now the popular choice for many online translation tools but, as this derogatory translation shows, should be used with a measure of caution, especially if the translation is required for corporate localization or political purposes.

The benefits of a professional translation company, using human translators, can not be underestimated.

AI translation, such as NMTs were developed to learn to be more human – to think and speak like us.

Unfortunately, it seems they may have learnt some of our worse behaviours as well as our better ones!