Google’s New Language Tool Raises Questions

Companies in general have a huge potential role to play in building a more inclusive society. There are many ways they can start doing it, and one important topic we have seen many companies working on is inclusive language.

Recently, Google a new “inclusive language” function that is intend to flash a warning if writers use words that may not be inclusive to all readers.

Have you ever thought about the power of the words as a tool to create a more inclusive environment?

According to a global survey conducted by Adobe with its clients, 61% of the respondents find inclusiveness and diversity in advertising important, moreover, 76% of job seekers view a diverse workforce as an important factor when evaluating companies and considering job offers, based on a Glassdoor survey.

What is Google really doing to take the lead on the future of inclusion online

This is the new function Google has rolled out that intends to steer its users away from what it deems to be politically incorrect words, like “landlord” and “mankind.”

The online word processor’s algorithm will phone number lists alert them that their chosen terms “may not be inclusive to all readers” and then goes a step further by suggesting alternative, more inclusive words to use. As we saw in the example above, might suggest “humankind” instead of the gendered “mankind,” or “police officer” instead of “policeman.”

While the new AI-powered language feature, called “assistive writing,” has been widely panned by critics (who have accused the search engine of being both intrusive and preachy), the fact is that these updates raise an important debate: the importance of inclusive language.

Avoid unnecessarily gendered language

Don’t describe people without disabilities as normal or healthy. This contributes to othering and alienation of people with disabilities by implying that they BX Leads are abnormal or sick. Use terms such as nondisabled person, sighted person, hearing person, person without disabilities, or neurotypical person;

Avoid using expressions such as, “Master bedrooms”, “Blacklists” and “whitelists”, the idiom “sold down the river” in our everyday speech, they may evoke racist notations rooted in our history. We should rethink the use of those worlds.