Skip to content
Navigating a New Political Landscape: View real-time updates about the impact of and Northeastern’s response to recent political changes.
Apply
Stories

Google Docs’ AI-powered inclusive writing auto-correct now under fire

People in this story

The Register, April 2022

Language models are used in Google Docs for features like Smart Compose; it suggests words to autocomplete sentences as a user types. The Chocolate Factory now wants to go further than that, and is rolling out “assistive writing,” another AI-powered system designed to help people write punchier documents more quickly. Assistive writing is being introduced to enterprise users, and the feature is turned on by default. Not everyone is a fan of being guided by the algorithm, and some people find its “inclusive language” ability irritating, Vice reported

Words like “policemen” could trigger the model into suggesting it be changed to something more neutral like “police officers.” That’s understandable, but it can get a bit ridiculous. For example, it proposed replacing the word “landlord” with “property owner” or “proprietor.” It also doesn’t like curse words as one writer found. 

Continue reading at The Register.

More Stories

A utility pole in Cleveland with a camera attatched.

Cleveland is spending millions on a controversial gunshot detection system. Is it making us safer?

07.14.2025
Major flood sweeping away trees with houses nearby.

Trump’s Texas visit highlights an us-vs-them approach to disasters

07.11.2025
Map of the continental US, highlighting 18 states including Alabama, California, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, New Jersey, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia and Wisconsin.

Map Shows States Where Carcinogens Detected in Drinking Water Sources

07.15.25
All Stories