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Book Ban in Florida District Now Includes Dictionaries The Daily BeastWednesday, January 10, 2024
Tuesday, January 9, 2024
Duolingo Fires Translators in Favor of AI - Futurism - Translation
Duo... no...
Et Tu, Duo?
The popular language-learning app Duolingo cut 10 percent of its contracted translators last month amid a push to integrate generative AI into its services, multiple outlets have reported.
A Duolingo spokesperson confirmed the December 2023 workforce slash to Bloomberg on Monday, claiming that DuoLingo "just no longer [needs] as many people to do the type of work some of these contractors were doing."
"Part of that," the spokesperson added, "could be attributed to AI."
Elsewhere, in a statement provided to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, a Duolingo spokesperson said that the company uses "AI for a variety of different functions and tasks," but conceded again that "there is some merit to the idea that AI is contributing to the reduction of our contract workforce."
It's another alarming turn in an increasingly AI-laden labor market in which company leaders continue to implement automated technology wherever they can — often, as in this case, at the cost of human jobs.
Estás Despedido!
According to Bloomberg, the firings were doled out just a few weeks after Duolingo bragged in a November letter to shareholders that the company was harnessing AI to produce "new content dramatically faster." Duolingo also reportedly uses AI to generate some of the voices heard in various in-app language scripts and to prompt AI-generated feedback to users.
To make matters even more depressing: in a late December Reddit thread, a site user claiming to be one of the fired Duolingo translators alleged that their former team's remaining contractors are now tasked with simply checking AI-generated text for errors.
"I worked there for five years," the Redditor wrote in the post, adding that "those who remained will just review AI content to make sure it's acceptable."
In other words, if this claim is true, it would mean that translators are seeing their knowledge-based work reduced to what could effectively be considered AI quality assurance.
Translation is a complex task that requires an understanding of the contextual nuance of a given language. Trusting translation AI — meanwhile pushing remaining contractors to fact-check presumably high numbers of those "dramatically faster" content outputs — may well come at the cost of such nuance, potentially flattening the learning process and rendering language robotic.
"I like and value the human aspect of language exchange and learning, and I think that [there are] nuances in languages that AI can't fully replicate (at least as of now)," a sympathetic netizen commented in the December Reddit thread. They added: "I can't help but still feel a little sad."
More on AI and translation: ICE Is Using Busted Translation AI That Can't Understand Detainees
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Sunshine Coast researchers creating dictionary of saltwater crocodile sounds to aid conservation efforts - ABC News - Dictionary
Spouting water, hissing and blowing bubbles might not work for humans on the dating scene, but for saltwater crocodiles it's a different story.
Key points:
- Researchers are studying crocodile sounds to better understand the animals' behaviour
- Recording equipment in enclosures at Australia Zoo has captured croc courtship noises
- The aim is to train AI to recognise the sounds to help track crocodiles in the wild
That's according to researchers from the University of the Sunshine Coast (UniSC), who are recording and classifying sounds made by the animals — the world's most vocal reptiles — in a bid to aid conservation efforts.
Video and acoustic recording equipment installed in Australia Zoo enclosures as part of a 12-month project has captured a unique love language that includes narial geysering (spouting water from the nose), narial hissing and bubble blowing.
The recordings are being used to create a "crocodile dictionary" to be released in stages, starting mid-next year.
'Like singing a love song'
Research supervisor and UniSC ecologist Ross Dwyer said very little was known about how saltwater crocodiles communicated — something he realised while visiting Cape York in Far North Queensland.
"While we were camping there, we could hear the crocodiles vocalising along the river," Dr Dwyer said.
Loading..."We could hear their head slaps; we could hear their growls and whistles.
"And while we're out there we're thinking, we should really be working harder to be able to classify these calls and see what extent these crocodiles are communicating to one another and under what context."
The project is being led by honours student Sonnie Flores, focusing on the courtship noises of the zoo's mature male/female breeding pairs.
It's found the females are more likely to growl — especially when guarding a nest — while males are more likely to use narial geysering, which Dr Dwyer likens to "whales coming up to the surface and blowing a spurt of water up into the air".
"The male crocodiles are doing this as a form of courtship with the females," he said.
"It's almost like singing a love song to the partner within their enclosures, prior to mating."
Some of the sounds are non-vocal, with the crocodiles "using the head like a percussion instrument".
"We're finding the crocodiles are communicating a lot below the surface of the water as well," Dr Dwyer said.
Adding AI to the toolkit
With more to uncover about the "mysterious" animals thorough bioacoustics, Dr Dwyer said future studies would examine how the apex predators used sounds in groups in their natural habitat.
"What we're trying to do is really get a better idea of the behaviours of these animals — how they move, how they associate, their social networks, their ecology," he said.
"We can then use that information to help inform government and conservation strategies on how to deal with these animals."
The ultimate goal is to train artificial intelligence to recognise the crocodile sounds, to assist in monitoring populations in the wild in a less "intrusive" and labour-intensive way than the current trapping programs.
The technology could be used to help protect endangered and critically endangered crocodile species throughout the world, something Ms Flores will investigate through her upcoming PhD.
"The dream is to be able to use artificial intelligence to … hear and identify these crocodile calls — not just that it is a crocodile, but also some information about it: how large it is, what sex is," Dr Dwyer said.
"That's a couple of years away, but we're working and there's a lot of parties which are interested in the results."
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Monday, January 8, 2024
The Modern Retail Dictionary, 2023 edition: The real meanings behind the most popular industry buzzwords - Modern Retail - Dictionary
Retail is an industry laden with jargon. Luckily, Modern Retail is here to explain what it all means.
In the fifth edition of our yearly look back at the most popular (and meaningless) words in the industry, we tried our best to explain why executives are saying what they’re saying.
From Shein and Temu being the reason for every brand’s woes to generative AI taking up space in every press release, Modern Retail has you covered. Below, we decipher the buzzwords of the past year. Let’s hope we can retire a few of these in the months to come.
Affiliate marketing: We bug publishers to post about our products.
AI: We’re using a chatbot now.
Authenticity: Our ad copy doesn’t use capital letters.
Barbie collab: We launched a pink-colored product this summer.
Brand collaborations: We’re slapping another brand’s logo on a product.
Community: The comments on Instagram.
Community-led: Instagram surveys.
Composable commerce: Only five CTOs actually understand why this is different from headless, but we’ve told our marketing team to talk about it a lot.
Creator-led: We gave an influencer some equity.
Decarbonize: We now use ocean freight.
First-party data: We have a quiz on our website.
Full-funnel: We think we can get people to purchase via a QR code on a TV ad.
Funflation: People got tired of buying stuff.
Gen Alpha: Gen Z but somehow scarier.
Generative AI: Our press releases were written by ChatGPT.
Innovation: Literally any idea anyone has had ever.
Investing in content: We’re posting more TikTok videos.
iOS 14: We’re still blaming it for all our troubles.
Loyalty program: Our way of getting more of your data.
Meet the customers where they are: Our Pavlovian response to when anyone asks why we’re no longer purely DTC.
Mobile-first: We send customers a minimum of five texts a day with no clear way of opting out.
Multi-channel: Fine, we sell on Amazon now.
Optimized for mobile: Don’t even try to load our webpage on a desktop.
Personalization: Our emails call you by your first name.
Premiumization: We’re trying to rebrand inflation as a luxury item.
Profitability: Don’t ask us about our finances last month.
Rebrand: Not enough young people shop with us.
Reels: A place that also houses our TikTok content.
Renaissance: The way for a creative director to not have to think up new ideas.
Rizz: Our marketing team says we have to use this word in all of our TikToks.
Shein: Our explanation to investors for why sales weren’t great this year.
Sustainability: There’s an official-looking badge at the bottom of our website.
Temu: See above entry for Shein.
Test and learn: We didn’t fail! We were just having some fun!
Third-party cookies: Marketers’ petroleum – they shouldn’t be using them but will until they’re forced not to.
Thought leader: Our founder likes to post on LinkedIn.
User-generated content: We’re letting other people do the work for us.
Web3: Something we don’t talk about anymore.
X: If you see us advertising here, something has gone awry.
Zero waste: Our packaging can be composted (maybe).
YSL and Pushin P: A dictionary guide to the Young Thug trial - The Independent - Dictionary
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The highly anticipated Young Thug trial is underway with both sides throwing around terms that aren’t particularly common — or have different meanings, depending on who’s talking.
The rapper, whose real name is Jeffery Williams, is in court in Fulton County, Georgia, fighting gang and racketeering charges in connection with what prosecutors say is a violent street gang he co-founded called Young Slime Life (YSL). He and 27 defendants other are facing RICO charges and have each been individually charged with other violations. Mr Williams has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
The first week of the trial was off to a rocky start, plagued by a motion for mistrial, frequent objections, numerous sidebars, and chaos after jurors’ faces were accidentally captured on camera.
But perhaps the most viral moments from the trial so far have consisted of the unusual terminology and references being used.
Here’s a guide to the most important - and perplexing - words and phrases so far:
YSL takes on a few meanings in this trial.
According to its website, YSL stands for Young Stoner Life, a record label that includes artists Young Thug, Gunna, Yak Gotti, Unfoonk. They are all defendants in this trial.
The prosecution is arguing that “YSL” also stands for “Young Slime Life,” a “criminal street gang.”
During his opening remarks, Mr Steel discussed the alleged origins of “YSL.” He said the abbreviation stemmed from the “YSL” logo on Yves Saint Laurent pants.
Pushin’ P
Defence attorney Brian Steel pulled up a Powerpoint slide during his opening remarks showing a photo of his client, Mr Williams, flashing a hand sign. The indictment states that Mr Williams is flashing a “‘Bloods’ gang sign.” Mr Steel said the prosecution is arguing that his hand is in the shape of a “B.”
Mr Steel said that his client was holding up the letter “P” before referencing a song by Mr Williams and his codefendant Sergio Kitchens, aka Gunna, called “pushin P.” The lawyer translated the song to mean “pushing positivity.”
According to Mr Steel, “It means, any circumstance you’re in, if you think positively about something, you can make it through. You’re pushing positivity.”
The term has been represented online by the 🅿️ emoji and is understood to mean “keeping it real” or, according to Mr Kitchens on The Breakfast Club, it “could” mean keeping it “player.”
Mr Steel, the attorney for Mr Williams, pointed out that his client had two major musical influences growing up: Lil Wayne and Tupac. Tupac famously defined “THUG LIFE” as standing for “The Hate You Give Little Infants F***s Everyone.”
“That was not what ‘thug’ meant to Jeffery,” Mr Steel said, offering up a different definition: “Truly Humble Under God.”
The prosecution and some law enforcement witnesses have mentioned “SLATT.” The indictment says that it is an abbreviation for “Slime Love All the Time.”
Atlanta Police Department detective Mark Belknap, a witness for the prosecution, told jurors that “SLATT” is an identifier of the gang YSL, and can often be used in tattoos, graffiti or on social media.
Studio Gangster
“Studio Gangster” is a derogatory term, according to Detective Belknap.
Mr Belknap said the term is used when someone “takes on the persona” of being violent when entering the music studio, but may not be in real life. So, calling someone that is a “slur” and a “huge sign of disrespect” to those actually involved in a criminal gang, he explained.
Bloods are a national gang. “YSL claims affiliation with” this gang, the indictment says.
“Bloods gang members typically and often will disrespect the rival Crips by avoiding the use of the letter C,” often replacing it with the letter “B” or an X or by crossing out the letter entirely, Detective Belknap said.
In her opening statement, defence attorney Angela D’Williams, who represents defendant Rodalius Ryan, referenced the anime called Bleach.
“This reminds me of an anime named Bleach,” she said, before describing that the storyline of the “Bounts,” who are “villains of the whole thing,” takes place only in season four and five. After those seasons, they aren’t mentioned, Ms D’Williams said.
“Why don’t you hear about these important characters? Because they’re filler characters,” she continued. “Me and Rodalius, we’re filler characters. We’re not integral to the story.” The attorney was trying to downplay her client’s alleged involvement: “They just drag him out of prison to jail to make this bigger than it has to be.”
Mr Ryan is only charged with one count, the same racketeering charge that every defendant is facing. He is currently serving a life sentence after being convicted for murder.
RICO stands for the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, which is a state law in Georgia based on the 1970 federal law, allowing the prosecution of alleged criminal organizations.
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis explained at a press conference following the 2022 indictment: “RICO is a tool that allows a prosecutor’s office and law enforcement to tell the whole story. We use it as a tool so they can have all the information they need to make a wise decision.”
Donald Trump and his 18 codefendants were also charged under this Georgia statute.
Mr Williams’ brother Quantavious Grier is known in rap as Unfoonk. He was named a defendant in the case, but entered a plea deal last year. However, Grier violated part of the plea deal, and was sentenced to nine years and six months in prison.
Although his rap name doesn’t seem to have the same underlying meaning as “thug” in Young Thug, Urban Dictionary defines “Unfoonk” as meaning “the man of the hour.”
Jujutsu Kaisen makes controversial translation error again - Dexerto - Translation
Tulisha srivastava
Jujutsu Kaisen has made yet another controversial translation blunder that ruins the story. Here’s everything you need to know about it.
The Jujutsu Kaisen manga is currently in its final stretch, featuring the battle against the strongest. The story is complex enough as it is. However, continuous translation errors change the meanings of the scenes and powers entirely.
Although translation errors aren’t rare in the anime industry, Jujutsu Kaisen fans are not happy about these mistakes. They often tag the official account of Viz Media on X/Twitter, requesting them to change the translator responsible.
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Viz remains silent about fans’ dissatisfaction, despite errors occurring for several months. The recent chapter arrives after a long hiatus, only for the context to be extremely confusing and change the original intention behind these scenes.
Jujutsu Kaisen makes a major translation error in Chapter 247
Jujutsu Kaisen Chapter 247 features the fight between Sukuna and Higuruma as the former’s inner monologue reads: “When I activated amplification against Satoru Gojo, I was extremely careful that Malevolent Shrine’s adaption up to that point was interrupted and not nullified.”
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However, the text in the raw chapter clearly means “Mahoraga’s adaptation.” Malevolent Shrine is Sukuna’s Domain Expansion. Furthermore, Mahoraga’s ability to adapt to any technique is what made the villain interested in Megumi. After that, he plotted to take over Megumi’s body just so he could use Mahoraga against Gojo.
Another notable error in the manga that was recently rectified is Gojo’s iconic quote before the battle of the strongest (Chapter 221). Gojo originally said, “Nah, I’d win,” while the original version simply said, “No.” It was later edited into the official version.
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However, not all the errors are fixed. One user shed light on the issue while tagging Viz Media: “You have people turn up for fan translations partly because of his translations. That’s missed money. You guys can make more money by changing translators.”
Another fan’s comment reads: “It’s not about the choice of words and the tone anymore; this is just straight-up misinformation, and it’s happened more than once now. Gojo is able to use Cursed Spirit Manipulation, Malevolent Shrine adapting. Basic knowledge about JJK would tell you this is absolute nonsense.”
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Some fans also refuse to buy the volumes because of these Jujutsu Kaisen translation blunders. One fan shared: “I’m not collecting physical JJK volumes bc I don’t want to have the bad translations on my shelves. If the translation that’s printed was better, I’d reconsider.”
How to watch Crunchyroll from outside your location in 2023
Crunchyroll is the world’s best hub for streaming anime, whether it’s One Piece, Attack on Titan, or Jujutsu Kaisen — and thanks to ExpressVPN, you can access the platform’s full library even if you’re outside of the US.
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If you’re abroad, here’s what you need to do to access Crunchyroll’s full selection — and it really is this simple:
- Sign up for ExpressVPN, which has ultra-fast servers and offers a secure, private connection wherever you are in the world.
- Connect to a location anywhere in the US; Express VPN allows you to choose from 24 different spots, from New Jersey to Santa Monica.
- Visit Crunchyroll online and start streaming all of your favorite animes — and perhaps some you’ve never watched.
Accessing Crunchyroll’s US roster makes a difference; for example, Hong Kong users only have access to less than 100 titles, while the US has nearly 1,000 movies and TV shows.
You can also stream anime on Crunchyroll for free with an ad-supported plan, or you can pay for a subscription — there’s even a 14-day free trial if you can’t quite make up your mind.
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See our other JJK coverage below, and you can check out our other anime coverage here.
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America's dictionaries add words reflecting modern life - U.S. Embassy & Consulates in Russia - U.S. Embassy Moscow - Dictionary
By ShareAmerica
Experts judge a healthy language by its marks of ingenuity. Does it create new words, borrow from other languages, or assign new meaning to existing terms? On those counts, American English “is very (very!) healthy,” researchers at the Merriam-Webster Dictionary say.
In 2023, Merriam-Webster and Dictionary.com, which is based on Random House Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary, added hundreds of words and phrases. Many new terms reflect the effects of rapid technological change on modern life. Others are inspired by pop culture or world events.
Cutting-edge technology spawned the term generative AI, a new entrant added by Merriam-Webster. It’s short for “artificial intelligence that is capable of generating new content (such as images or text) in response to a submitted prompt (such as a query) by learning from a large reference database of examples.”
Partly in response to the pandemic, science and medicine introduced superdodger, which now appears in Dictionary.com. The word means “anyone who, for unverified reasons, remains uninfected or asymptomatic even after repeated exposure to a contagious virus.”
Along somewhat similar lines, Dictionary.com added antifragile, a new adjective defined as “becoming more robust when exposed to stressors, uncertainty or risk.” (Example: “We’ve made the structure sturdy and antifragile, so bad weather makes it stronger.”)
Some new words put a playful spin on familiar terms. Sports fans will recognize the recently added northpaw, for “an athlete, usually a [baseball] pitcher or a boxer, who is right-handed,” as an inversion of the well-known “southpaw,” meaning left-hander.
A twist on the existing term “newlywed” reflects society’s evolving relationships. A nearlywed has a life partner but “no planned wedding date, sometimes with no intention of marrying,” Dictionary.com says.
In a nod to pop culture, Dictionary.com added nepo baby for a famous person “who has at least one parent, or another close family member, who is a celebrity.” Derived from “nepotism,” which refers to favoritism through family connections, a nepo baby’s fame or success were enabled at least in part through that of a family member.
Slang injects a dash of energy and fun into the 2023 additions to American English. Merriam-Webster added zhuzh, which means to make “a small improvement, adjustment or addition that completes the overall look, taste, etc., of something.” The verb is often used with “up,” as in, “You need to zhuzh up your outfit.”
Merriam-Webster also added the slang word rizz (“romantic appeal or charm”), which derives from “charisma.”
Taken together, these and other new words provide insight into our complex, modern world. “There is a lot happening out there,” Nick Norlen, senior editor at Dictionary.com, said in an essay this year. “Our lexicographers observe it all, documenting language change wherever it’s happening and defining the terms that help us to understand our times.”
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