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Y'all have a Texas accent? Siri (and the world) might be slowly killing it
The Guardian ^ | 10 Feb 16 | Tom Dart

Posted on 02/10/2016 1:48:23 PM PST by SkyPilot

'People speak to machines differently than how they speak to people,' says language technology expert Alan Black.

It was a simple enough question, at least in this part of the world.

"How can we mosey on down to the rodeo?" my friend Ben Crook drawled, sat in a rocking chair on his front porch, a can of Lone Star beer in his left hand on a humid night in Houston.

Only one thing jarred with this otherwise stereotypical Texas scene: Crook was asking Siri, the voice-activated digital personal assistant on his iPhone, rather than, say, a passing sheriff on horseback with a cowboy hat wider than the Buffalo Bayou.

Siri understood the individual words but didn't know how to respond. But Crook had other questions. He was hungry; heck, so hungry he coulda eaten the north end of a southbound billy goat.

"We're fixin' to eat brisket, where should we go?" he asked Siri. She offered a list of 15 restaurants - though not all appeared to serve Texas barbecue. Siri was also helpful when asked where to find crawfish, but baffled about kolaches, the pastries of central European origin that are hugely popular in Texas, calling them "Colotchies".

Meanwhile, though the free Dragon dictation app performed admirably when fed lines from the 2004 movie The Alamo, it did turn "Davy Crockett feller" into "David Rockefeller", and evoking a family of Yankee industrialists is no way to describe a hero of the battle for Texas independence.

The upshot of this brief and decidedly unscientific experiment is that Siri is at her best when addressed in standard English, with accents toned down and slang avoided where possible.

(Excerpt) Read more at theguardian.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Extended News; Miscellaneous; News/Current Events; US: Texas
KEYWORDS: accents; apple; language; siri; technology; trends
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Like the iPhone's highly temperamental Siri, Dragon and the rest of the dictation apps I tried steadfastly refused to understand pretty much everything I had to say. Apparently none of [Dragon's] coders have spent a natural minute below the Mason-Dixon Line. A smart person could make a lot of money by inventing a Siri for Southerners.

I suppose. But the first thing I thought about when reading this article was: "How does Siri deal with Ebonics and Ghetto English?"


1 posted on 02/10/2016 1:48:23 PM PST by SkyPilot
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To: SkyPilot


2 posted on 02/10/2016 1:50:24 PM PST by SkyPilot ("I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." John 14:6)
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To: SkyPilot

I guess first I would have to use siri. It is the first thing I turn off on my apple stuff.


3 posted on 02/10/2016 1:50:29 PM PST by Resolute Conservative
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To: SkyPilot

Accents have been on the way out since long before Siri. When TV decided the “normal” American accent was midwestern all other accents were on a ticking clock. Every generation is exposed less and less to their regional accent and more and more to the midwestern. Mass media does that.


4 posted on 02/10/2016 1:53:49 PM PST by discostu (This is a different kind of flying... all together.)
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To: SkyPilot

Texans don’t have accents, lot’s of folks outside the state kind’a sound funny but not Texans.


5 posted on 02/10/2016 1:55:04 PM PST by Jolla
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To: SkyPilot

The article conflates accent with jargon.


6 posted on 02/10/2016 1:55:45 PM PST by BenLurkin (The above is not a statement of fact. It is either satire or opinion. Or both.)
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To: SkyPilot

“Mama don’t raise no chumps!”


7 posted on 02/10/2016 1:55:58 PM PST by BBB333 (Q: Which is grammatically correct? Joe Biden IS or Joe Biden ARE an idiot?)
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To: discostu
I knew a young man who went on a 3 week business trip to London.

When he returned he spoke in a faux upper class British accent. It was very, very awkward.

Some celebrities have done the same thing.

Madonna was one of the most famous phonies, but there are others.

Madonna putting on her infamous british accent!

8 posted on 02/10/2016 1:56:56 PM PST by SkyPilot ("I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." John 14:6)
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To: SkyPilot

Man doan wan no hep, man doan git no hep.


9 posted on 02/10/2016 1:57:34 PM PST by IronJack
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To: SkyPilot

I’m sorry, Dave. I’m afraid I can’t do that. HAL


10 posted on 02/10/2016 1:58:08 PM PST by showme_the_Glory ((ILLEGAL: prohibited by law. ALIEN: Owing political allegiance to another country or government))
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To: SkyPilot

I used to find accents very contagious, I’d start picking them up in just a couple of hours. Then I worked for a company where the CEO was from Mexico, took about 3 months of fighting the urge to make it go away.


11 posted on 02/10/2016 1:58:24 PM PST by discostu (This is a different kind of flying... all together.)
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To: BenLurkin
The article conflates accent with jargon.

True.

12 posted on 02/10/2016 1:58:46 PM PST by SkyPilot ("I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." John 14:6)
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To: SkyPilot

They’ll have to pry my Texas drawl from my cold dead vocal chords.


13 posted on 02/10/2016 1:59:22 PM PST by catfish1957 (I display the Confederate Battle Flag with pride in honor of my brave ancestors who fought w/ valor)
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To: SkyPilot

In an article in a British newspaper. Using poor language is not the same as having an accent.

I grew up in the country in Northern Arkansas. I have a very thick accent. There is absolutely no chance of me ever loosing my accent. I don’t like Siri or any other dictation program, I can type faster than I can talk.


14 posted on 02/10/2016 1:59:51 PM PST by justlittleoleme (Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.)
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To: discostu

No, Midwestern accents sound “hick”. Californian non-accent is the media default.


15 posted on 02/10/2016 2:01:46 PM PST by Hugin ("First thing--get yourself a firearm!" Sheriff Ed Galt, Last Man St anding.)
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To: IronJack
Man doan wan no hep, man doan git no hep.

Second Jive Dude: Hey... knock a self a pro, Slick! That gray matter backlot perform us DOWN, I take TCB-in', man!

[Subtitle: DON'T BE NAIVE ARTHUR. EACH OF US FACES A CLEAR MORAL CHOICE]

16 posted on 02/10/2016 2:02:02 PM PST by SkyPilot ("I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." John 14:6)
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To: SkyPilot

17 posted on 02/10/2016 2:04:59 PM PST by Buckeye McFrog
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To: catfish1957
They’ll have to pry my Texas drawl from my cold dead vocal chords.

Lol. I had an Air Force flight instructor who was from Texas. He was fantastic. What I really like were his Texas colloquialisms of wisdom:

- You land like a cow pissin' on a flat rock

- Remember, wherever you go in life.....there you are

18 posted on 02/10/2016 2:05:32 PM PST by SkyPilot ("I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." John 14:6)
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To: Hugin

Nope. The general American accent used by the media is midwestern:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_American#General_American_in_the_media


19 posted on 02/10/2016 2:08:50 PM PST by discostu (This is a different kind of flying... all together.)
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To: SkyPilot

Don’t want to sound like what ‘others’ want. When I lived abroad, I still said “no ma’am”, etc. even tho I was ridiculed. Instilled in me since birth. Will never deny my heritage or upbringing.


20 posted on 02/10/2016 2:11:41 PM PST by RushIsMyTeddyBear (I'm fed up.)
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