Apple Dictation Bug: ‘Racist’ Being Transcribed as ‘Trump’

A video has gone viral on TikTok where Apple’s voice-to-text dictation feature is transcribing the word "Racist" to "Trump" and quickly correcting itself back to "Racist."

[{"selector":"#anim-afc84083-55d1-400c-8123-5bac47278830 [data-leaf-element=\"true\"]","keyframes":{"transform":["translate(-0.6944444444444554%, 9.76562436792073%) scale(1.4166666666666667)","translate(0%, 0%) scale(1)"]},"delay":0,"duration":2000,"easing":"cubic-bezier(.3,0,.55,1)","fill":"forwards"}] [{"selector":"#anim-7d23beef-c470-4322-9b42-f812e3eebf3b","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-005cccb2-d283-4027-ae48-4396987255e9","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(0px, 140.57085%, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}]

The New York Times reports that it successfully reproduced this issue multiple times.

[{"selector":"#anim-d1d46924-8cd7-4208-9c52-8b1663de52e9 [data-leaf-element=\"true\"]","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(50.432724885875125%, 0, 0)","translate3d(0%, 0, 0)"]},"delay":0,"duration":2000,"easing":"cubic-bezier(.3,0,.55,1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-2697bc06-c2af-442b-a092-17e47357a830","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-bbdae067-ccf3-4ebb-ad02-4993e2c1494a","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(0px, 180.86415%, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}]

According to Apple, this issue was caused due to a phonetic overlap between the two words.

[{"selector":"#anim-48d53c90-1743-4468-bfba-0bc0dae39a4c [data-leaf-element=\"true\"]","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(-15.46652413940475%, 0, 0)","translate3d(0%, 0, 0)"]},"delay":0,"duration":2000,"easing":"cubic-bezier(.3,0,.55,1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-5eed7b59-9a13-47e5-bbbd-b821545ab69d","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-eab1a3b3-657b-4f35-838d-8c7e7507ad82","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(0px, 180.86415%, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}]

John Burkley, an AI developer and former member of Apple's Siri team, stated that the issue started following an update to Apple's AI servers.

[{"selector":"#anim-75168c70-c6ad-4d76-88f3-3889dc3cd7a3 [data-leaf-element=\"true\"]","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(-19.197388632872485%, 0, 0)","translate3d(0%, 0, 0)"]},"delay":0,"duration":2000,"easing":"cubic-bezier(.3,0,.55,1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-5db73171-a60e-4809-af27-7683274fde56","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-79af780a-cdfb-47d8-a864-d42392f93722","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(0px, 142.40574%, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}]

Mr. Burkley believes it is a serious prank caused by deliberate changes to the data or code.

[{"selector":"#anim-0b7688ee-c40c-402a-a255-84968d974a58 [data-leaf-element=\"true\"]","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(-49.42454493208645%, 0, 0)","translate3d(0%, 0, 0)"]},"delay":0,"duration":2000,"easing":"cubic-bezier(.3,0,.55,1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-75ee944e-5413-4d64-a539-dc74bb311432","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-1c47d5f6-6c5d-4536-90b7-eaf66c963f8b","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(0px, 179.47528%, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}]

The bug has since been fixed, as others have been unable to replicate the issue.

[{"selector":"#anim-ebd09cb9-5083-47af-b410-d5d5d8ff6d97 [data-leaf-element=\"true\"]","keyframes":{"transform":["translate(2.337977747813797%, 3.388964465673198%) scale(1.4098360655737705)","translate(0%, 0%) scale(1)"]},"delay":0,"duration":2000,"easing":"cubic-bezier(.3,0,.55,1)","fill":"forwards"}] [{"selector":"#anim-e0e2011a-5520-40de-9555-733e9067cbc5","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-7d97d641-fc71-4992-b538-31bce80d9d3f","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(0px, 179.47528%, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":0,"duration":600,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}]