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From Smiley to System Crash. How Emoticons Can Break AI
Twenty-five years ago, when I moved to Germany, I had zero German language experience. But like every native English speaker, I had basically been using German every day without realizing it. Words like kindergarten and hamburger and frankfurter are so integrated into the English vernacular that we don’t even process them as German.
As my German vocabulary expanded, I discovered there was even more overlap. Words that were the same in both languages or could easily be translated by adjusting their spelling and conjugation. However, there were also words that were deceptively similar and meant something entirely different. These are called false friends.
Konfirmation was my chronically recurring false friend. Zur Konfirmation… What I thought was an opening to confirming plans, was actually me telling friends, co-workers, and clients that I would be: “arriving to the confirmation in the afternoon” or “submitting my documents for the confirmation in two days” or “would be bringing chips and sparkling wine to the confirmation”. The confirmation in this case being the religious rite.
To this day, I’m not sure if the people who simply nodded along had understood my intent or just assumed I was incredibly devout. Either way, it was a mistake that went repeatedly unchecked because my conversation partners…
