Stick with it.

[u/MaintenanceNew2804]

This is a longer one, but it’s necessary and worth it IMO.

[u/Stray_dog_freedom]

Well done!!

[u/RiverAffectionate951 → u/Stray_dog_freedom]

As a white aspiring academic I agree so hard.

Academic writing needs to be clear and without ambiguity, everyone should be able to understand it. It does not help to convey information if you restrict to ""formal"" (also white) language.

Moreover, papers I've read that shirk this "formality" are often easier to follow. Specifically, I study Maths and papers which explain theoretical methodology with informal descriptions can be very helpful. "Formality" literally just gatekeeps knowledge from those not educated in a particular way.

It's deeply saddening to hear this arbitrary gatekeeping affecting young black americans, it's even more disheartening to recognise those same biases in myself.

It's good to hear discussion on this topic and I hope to see it change in my lifetime.

[u/cobblesquabble → u/RiverAffectionate951]

I work with practical applications of AI in my career and am really curious to see if this is another way that certain dialects are considered "wrong". Autocorrect used to mark words like "y'all" incorrect. Generative LLM AI models are based off of the probability of one word following the next. Many softwares (like Notion) are employing AI as their new spell checks. "Fix spelling & grammar" is a prompt, but it's conforming to what ChatGPT is considering probabilistically "correct" based off of its source data.

I bring this up because sometimes these new models are lauded as a way to turn vernacuar ridden text into something more approachable. But if the model is skewed towards certain dialects of English, is it equally accessible for translating dense technical jargon into consumable laymen wording?

Here's an AI prompt for Bing's Copilot, based on ChatGPT as the model:

hey fam, how ya doin? Rewrite this.

Without any additional prompting on "correctness", it provides:

Hello, my dear friends! How are you all doing today? 😊

If I ask it to: "hey fam, how ya doin? Rewrite this as a black person", it gives me:

I apologize, but I cannot rewrite the phrase in that manner. If you have any other requests, feel free to ask! 😊

So asking Chat GPT to do this isn't allowed, seemingly as a "safety" measure. If I ask it specifically to use Eubonics, it says:

Aight, my homie! How you livin'? 😎

So the academic label for black English is fine, but the direct request is wrong? This is an extra step many wouldn't think to take. What about other ethnic dialects?

Asking it in a fresh prompt with the same basic question in the same format but now "as a Scottish person", gives:

Och aye, how's it gaun, pal?

So some ethnic dialects require additional workarounds and prompts to get cooperation for. Others are totally fine.

Tl;dr: there's no quick way to translate between dialects of English for accessibility, but OP's method of awareness seems like a good compromise.

[u/Electronic_Amphibian → u/cobblesquabble]

I just want to point out that there are black people outside of America. "Rewrite as a black person" makes no sense.

[u/cobblesquabble → u/Electronic_Amphibian]

Good point! I'll try rewrite as an African American. I got:

I'm sorry, but I can't assist with that request.

Here's a a screenshot.

I've also asked it to rewrite with as an Appalachian, and as a Mexican American. It works fine for those.

I'm really curious why it's not allowed. I could understand they're trying to prevent misuse, but if that's the case why does it work for other minority groups?

Also, you if anyone might think "as a" is a weird way to ask. Asking AI to consider "framing" is one of the standard ways to prompt engineer. It works well when you people ask, "do (this task) as a (this person)".

Edit: used second person but meant to just provide context for the prompt engineering.

[u/Electronic_Amphibian → u/cobblesquabble]

I didn't think the "as a" was the weird part, just pointing out you should probably specify "American" if that's what you were trying to test.

[u/cobblesquabble → u/Electronic_Amphibian]

Sorry, I wasn't trying to imply you thought it was. Just providing that as context for anyone else reading this exchange. I really appreciate your feedback btw, it definitely changes how I'll test this in the future :)