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Discussion on: The problem with “you guys”

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Web Webster

Funnily enough, the bot pinged me as I was having a discussion about “guys” and Southerners’ use of “y’all.” I joked that we had to come up with an alternative to “you guys” because it was “too Northern.” I think it’s pretty fair to guess that Southerners didn’t coin it to be more gender-inclusive in their spoken language. In any case, I wasn’t bothered by the bot, and I think it’s a worthwhile exercise.

Friends and associates are becoming more willing to call out “whoa dude, that’s ___ist” when someone intentionally or unintentionally uses fraught or discriminatory speech. Why shouldn’t our machines, especially those built for communication, try and do the same.