November 1, 2023 at 12:19 pm

‘I said what I said.’ Microsoft Word Auto-Corrected A Student’s Paper To Say “Poor” Instead Of “Economically Disadvantaged”

by Matthew Gilligan

Source: TikTok/@itschicabtw

Microsoft Word is now telling us what to do?

When did this start?!?!

Apparently, it happened right under our noses, because a viral TikTok video showed what happened when a woman’s Microsoft Word gave her an unusual suggestion while she was editing a paper she wrote.

She said, “So I’m writing a paper right now and it’s saying I had to put ‘economically disadvantaged’ because that’s how the category is called.”

Source: TikTok/@itschicabtw

Apparently, Microsoft Word wasn’t a fan of that phrase and the program offered up its own suggestion.

The woman said, “When I go and click it to see, like what is it, it’s just poor.”

Source: TikTok/@itschicabtw

Microsoft’s website says that Word’s editor is skilled at “making sentences more concise, choosing simpler words, or writing with more formality.”

Hmmm…

Source: TikTok/@itschicabtw

Check out the video.

@itschicabtw

I consider this to be a hate crime toward poor people #fyp #university #paper #unilife

♬ original sound – ᥴꫝ𝓲ᥴꪖ

And here’s how TikTokkers responded.

This individual likes this option…

Source: TikTok/@itschicabtw

Another viewer knows who’s really in charge.

Source: TikTok/@itschicabtw

And this TikTokker said Word knows what’s up.

Source: TikTok/@itschicabtw

I guess you never know what these applications will tell you what to do next.

Didn’t see that one coming!