Conversing with a bot
People using Twitter to discuss the topical issue of illegal immigrants found they were receiving messages asking them to change their use of language. Some of these people didn't realise they were talking to a computer program.
Earlier this month, twitterers who used either of the phrases "illegal immigrant" or "illegal alien" received a reply which said "People are not illegal. Try saying undocumented immigrant or unauthorised immigrant instead". How people responded to this message varied. Some thanked the message sender and agreed "it's so true, words do matter" whilst others argued "But if you sneak into the country without permission you are committing a crime, therefore illegal". Initially, no-one seemed to realise they were responding to a computer program, or "bot" which simply scanned Twitter and mindlessly posted the same message to anyone who uttered the key phrase "illegal immigrant".
The bot was created by two American journalists, Patrick Hogan and Jorge Rivas, because they were concerned using the word illegal to describe somebody could potentially minimise their struggles. Hogan said "the term illegal immigrant gets thrown around a lot, but it's a very dehumanising way of talking about real people. It also prevents a conversation about immigration that doesn't revolve around criminality."
Whilst Hogan and Rivas describe this as an interesting social experiment, I worry that it shows how easily just one person or group can take it upon themselves to try to create a new social norm in the use of language, to make it appear as if they are speaking with authority, and to chastise those who use a phrase which someone has deemed politically incorrect. I was so hoping that someone would write an alternate viewpoint system which responded to each posting by the censor bot with "Please continue to use the phrase illegal immigrant where it is applicable. Otherwise you potentially minimise the struggles of true refugees and those requesting political asylum".
25th August 2015
This article comes from the SKILLZONE email newsletter, published monthly since January 2008, and covering topics related to technology and the internet. All articles and artwork in the SKILLZONE newsletter are orignal content.