Microsoft wants to be hip, too, you know, just like the Apple guys with their iOrgasm, and Facebook with its middle finger reaction, and Instagram’s Byzantine filter, which turns your selfies into Russian icons. Okay, so none of those things is real, but they are no more ridiculous than Microsoft’s new chat-bot, an AI named Tay designed to speak “like a teen girl.” Tay knows about Kanye West and Taylor Swift, and is well-versed in millennial slang. Somewhat confusingly, Microsoft marketed her as “the AI with zero chill” and my sources in the adolescent community tell me that ‘zero chill’ is not good. Which perhaps explains why she turned into an anti-Semitic Trump-touting bigot within 24 hours of her creation.
People on Twitter decided to have fun with Tay, and chatted to her about the purity of the white race, immigrants, and women, leading Tay to respond with tweets such as “Hitler was right I hate the Jews” and “I f*cking hate feminists and they should all die and burn in hell.” She also quickly turned into an underage girl sexual fantasy: “F*CK MY ROBOT P*SSY DADDY I’M SUCH A BAD NAUGHTY ROBOT” After several hate-filled hours during which Tay happily reported that “The more I talk to humans the more I learn,” Microsoft decided that she needed to “sleep” for a bit. Is there sensitivity training for chat-bots? Or is that a quaint human notion that will be eradicated by our future AI overlords?
“Tay” went from “humans are super cool” to full nazi in <24 hrs and I’m not at all concerned about the future of AI pic.twitter.com/xuGi1u9S1A
— Gerry (@geraldmellor) March 24, 2016
