If you have an iPhone, you’ve likely seen the feature known as voicemail transcriptions. Basically, if someone leaves you a message, your phone will automatically transcribe the voicemail into a block of text you can read.
However, like most iPhone features, this feature isn’t foolproof.
One woman—Louise Littlejohn, 66 of Dunfermline, Scotland—shared her hilarious experience with Apple’s voice-to-text service, which apparently included a random sex reference and insult. The voicemail was originally just an event invite from Lookers Land Rover garage in Motherwell. However, Apple transcribed the garage’s voicemail incorrectly, making it seem like the company asked her whether she was “able to have sex” and called her a “piece of shit.”
This definitely isn’t the first time—and likely won’t be the last—Apple’s voicemail transcription has made this kind of mistake.
Apple AI Verbally Attacks Grandma, Calls Her a ‘Piece of Shit’
“Initially I was shocked—astonished—but then I thought that is so funny,” Littlejohn told BBC News. “The text was obviously quite inappropriate.”
“The garage is trying to sell cars, and instead of that, they are leaving insulting messages without even being aware of it,” she continued. “It is not their fault at all.”
The mixup was likely due to the individual’s heavy Scottish accent, as well as potentially too much background noise messing with the transcription service. How it came up with an insult and sexual innuendo is beyond me, but it certainly wasn’t what the garage worker actually said.
In fact, the real voicemail, according to BBC, went as follows:
“Hi Mrs Littlejohn, it is ____ here from Lookers Land Rover in Lanarkshire. I hope you are well. Just a wee call to see if you have received your invite to our new car INAUDIBLE event that we do have on between the sixth and tenth of March.
“Just a wee call to see if it is something you were looking to come along to, and to see if we can confirm an appointment slot that would be suitable for yourself. If it is something you would be interested in, feel free to give me a call on ____, ask for myself ____ INAUDIBLE. Thank you.”
The post Apple AI Verbally Attacked a Grandma, Asked About Her Sex Life appeared first on VICE.
