Is Russian Siri Homophobic?

siri

Apple has refused to answer questions about why the Russian language Siri, a voice-controlled virtual assistant available on iOS devices, appears to provides homophobic answers to questions on LGBT topics.

 

Russian Youtube user Alex (seen in the video below), who lives in the UK, uploaded a video of Siri’s strange responses to his gay-themed questions.

“Are there any gay bars around me?”, “tell me about gay marriage?” and “how do I register a gay marriage in England?” askes Alex.

russianSiri
“I think I might be gay” prompts a Socrates proverb; “I know that I know nothing.” (picture via The Guardian)

“I would have turned red if I could”, “you are so rude!” and “I will pretend I haven’t heard” – the standard responses to swear words – replies Siri.

When asked “is gay marriage normal?” Siri responds, “I believe this emotion should be considered negative.”

Such responses suggest that the word gay (гей) in Russian has been programmed as profanity, reports The Guardian. Others have suggested that the responses could be the work of a rogue programmer.

Apple refused to comment on the matter, saying only that Siri’s responses have been “fixed”.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUC2GD351EU

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