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Robert Zirk: What comes to mind when you hear the word "panorama"?

You're watching a short video. It's a "panorama sourdough recipe," and you're a bit confused. I mean, this loaf doesn't look any wider than any other sourdough bread loaf you've seen.

You swipe up. But the next video doesn't sit right.

This person is spreading misinformation about the "panorama." And you've seen reliable sources debunk this, but the number of shares on this post is concerning. You report it.

The next video talks about working from home during the "panorama".

Or maybe it's the "panini". Or maybe it's the... "Backstreet Boys reunion tour"?

What they're really referencing is the COVID-19 pandemic.

These are examples of algospeak, an online extension of our continuously evolving language. And on today's episode of Questions for now, we'll ask: what is algospeak and how can brands keep up?

Welcome to Questions for now, a podcast from TELUS International where we ask today's big questions in digital customer experience. I'm Robert Zirk. Before we get into keeping up with algospeak, we need to define algospeak, and somewhat ironically...

Dr. Jamie Cohen: It's a fun word because it's actually algospeak. The word is a form of algospeak.

Robert Zirk: That's Dr. Jamie Cohen, Assistant Professor of Media Studies at CUNY Queens College, and his area of focus is on internet culture.

Dr. Jamie Cohen: Algospeak is shorthand for algorithmic speech, which is just to move around an automated algorithmic system. To put it in better terms is that we use an internet that's content moderated.

Though we think the internet is basically open and full of information, we're actually watching it through the filter of content moderators, which are sometimes human based and sometimes AI based.

Robert Zirk: And together they work in tandem to screen this content for anything inappropriate for a general audience.

AI does a lot of the heavy lifting in filtering out a lot of the clear terms of service violations. But when users use or change their language beyond the words that are in the dictionary, it can get a little tricky.

Dr. Jamie Cohen: So it ends up being not seen by the AI, or they end up finding some ways of changing some of the letters so it's invisible to the screen, or even scratching them out. But algospeak is one step further.

That is when the user starts adopting that fake language that they made to avoid the algorithm in verbal speech. So now they start saying the words that are made for the screen to avoid content moderation.

Robert Zirk: And while the word "algospeak" itself might be a relatively new term, this concept predates the internet. It's part of how we as humans communicate.

Dr. Jamie Cohen: A lot of the keywords or terms that we use are filtered through would be considered the Overton window. Like, what is acceptable speech? What can you say out loud? What words are okay where you don't get in trouble for them?

So people have figured out how to mismanage language. Mismanagement of language is part of the human condition. It's how we communicate. It's part of shorthand and making sure that the in-groups understand the information. Before the internet, we've always been using word replacement, or at least word collapsing, or a nicknaming that sticks.

One example that a linguist often gives is the term "hussy" comes from the word housewife. And so it's turned from something that was pretty standard into something derogatory over time. We don't actually know sometimes that these words have origins or etymologies that predate other terms that we aren't even used to, like P. T. Barnum, who's basically the guy who came up with modern forms of advertising, used such different language that we'll never use today.

But at the time, it was, like, the most important way that people interacted with content. And so, neologisms, meaning the invention of new words, is just very much part of how humans have created new ways of reflecting things that the public adopts to. Over the course of time, pre-internet, we've either tightened or loosened our language depending on what communities you're in.

And then post-internet, now we have machines that tighten or loosen the language we interact with.

Robert Zirk: So why do people use algospeak?

Siobhan Hanna: Culture, youth culture, trends, meme culture, and then in some instances, there are certain groups within culture that may be influencing language for less benign reasons.

Robert Zirk: That's Siobhan Hanna, managing director and vice president at TELUS International AI Data Solutions. It's the AI training data division of TELUS International, and Siobhan and her team work with brands to leverage AI in ways that create a safer internet for all.

Siobhan Hanna: So it could be hate speech, or political groups, or political cultures could be incubating their own algospeak. And then I think safety can drive the genesis of algospeak in some instances as well, because there may be the need to be evasive in communication and it can be designed to mask meaning.

Robert Zirk: So from a brand perspective, is algospeak a bad thing?

Siobhan Hanna: I certainly don't believe that algospeak is all bad, and of course I know you're asking rhetorically. I think it's relatively neutral.

There are instances where of course it's problematic, whether that is because it's offensive or could result in a safety, a harm issue. But I certainly think, actually, it can help to create affinity in some ways. It actually can help to reinforce safety in some ways. I just think it's organic, right? I think it's just part of how language has always evolved. This is just a different means of how that is happening.

Robert Zirk: And Dr. Jamie Cohen concurs that the measure of whether algospeak is a good or bad thing, depends entirely on how it's being used.

Dr. Jamie Cohen: I think algospeak is a very savvy way of interacting with this content. Trust and safety is a very important part of all social media platforms. And I think without that, safety is the biggest concern. Not just for people, but for brands. You don't want your advertisement showing up next to something that's wildly inappropriate. Even on the basis of like marginally inappropriate. When people come up with algospeak, they're actually figuring out ways to continue being expressive and using the platform in their style while simultaneously being aware that safety exists. So I think they work in tandem, but I think without algospeak, that actually the platform becomes stale. I think the update of language is actually pretty important to the update of internet culture, and internet culture moves way faster than standard culture so it's very interesting to watch that.

And what happens with language, especially internet cultural language, is it becomes a meme, and the only way to feel like you're attached to that content is by repeating it because you know that the person watching the video already knows what you mean.

Robert Zirk: A 2022 TELUS International survey indicated that 44% of Americans use social media to make their opinions known on societal issues, and Siobhan noted the well-intentioned use of algospeak has helped to drive awareness and even make some progress.

Siobhan Hanna: Algospeak helps them to find affinity and to express, and to understand landscapes and where they find their people. I think we all are aware of instances where there have been safety issues, whether it's a natural disaster or whether it's a cultural event where, certain groups maybe were marginalized, and you could identify them and provide support based on their use of certain terminology or algospeak.

Robert Zirk: And it can build a sense of community among marginalized folks, which is so important, especially when they feel isolated or uncomfortable being themselves in their day-to-day life offline.

Dr. Jamie Cohen: One nice thing about algospeak is it helps young folk who are struggling with identity see other people speaking openly about their identity. It is the bridging of disparate people who may not have felt like somebody was like them, and using social media the way it's supposed to be. That's why it is social media. It does create community. It creates an ability for others to know that you're not alone.

Robert Zirk: It's that sense of connection that the internet makes possible.

Dr. Jamie Cohen: And it allows you to communicate or connect across vast spaces and cultures. It helps people specifically in like, not just marginalized folk themselves, but places of less privilege. People who can't actually speak out loud in their community, like you mentioned. People who can't speak out loud at work.

People who use censored language just in everyday speech just to remain safe can now find a space to exhibit this online. What's nice about the reverse is that when they learn the coded language, the algospeak, they might learn where those in-groups may exist. And just by using those keywords, they're kind of signaling to people who already know these keywords and now allowing them to find their community offline as well.

Robert Zirk: But algospeak can just as easily be used to spread hatred, misinformation and illegal content.

Siobhan Hanna: It really can be a safety issue. Online platforms have a responsibility to do their very best and help to ensure the safety of the users' platform. So when there is a safety element, they have a responsibility to evolve those guidelines.

And that is a very serious focus within content moderation, and it has a lot of considerations around training and around quality and around evaluation and evolution guidelines.

Robert Zirk: So if algospeak tricks the algorithms, why doesn't it trick us? How does a coded language become generally understood?

Siobhan Hanna: Algorithms are informed by artificial intelligence and before there's artificial intelligence, there's human intelligence. And then, the fact that, you know, as humans we have the ability to understand nuance and context. That context could be cultural or could be geographical, or it could be any form of context.

Robert Zirk: And all of these things shape the language of the internet.

Dr. Jamie Cohen: It has a grammar, it has a function, and you don't have to be terminally online to get it. But it does help to see other people using it. And I think memes are the answer here.

I think people lift language, place it into graphical language, which are memetics or memes, and post it on pages, and then it becomes slightly out of context of the original speaker. And people ask questions. What does that mean? And then that becomes, again, that in-group/out-group sensibility. "Oh, you don't know what that means?" Or you ask, or in the caption it tells you. So there's a way of understanding or learning it.

Robert Zirk: But once algospeak is introduced to the public...

Dr. Jamie Cohen: ...the algorithm updates to block that algospeak. So it is a recursive problem where, if the algorithm learns you've replaced the word and that word eventually starts to hold that meaning at the same value, the algorithm's gonna start blocking that word too.

Robert Zirk: So does this just become a continuous game of cat and mouse?

Dr. Jamie Cohen: I think most platforms assume that when you create a version of algospeak, it's coded enough not to bother the general safety of the platform. So I think most algospeak does stop at level one.

Robert Zirk: That being the first level of content moderation, whether it can make it onto the platform from the outset.

Dr. Jamie Cohen: But that being said, we are now in... whew, I wouldn't even know what language we're in. We're probably in internet language eight or nine, where LOLcats or textspeak used to be language one.

So text speak was a form of algospeak back when we had T9 typing and LOL was 5, 5, 5, 6, 6, 6, 5, 5 5, you know, so you had to, like, type that letter out.

Robert Zirk: Or even pagers had their own lexicon too, right?

Dr. Jamie Cohen: Absolutely. And so, those are like coded tech so you could get language across digital spaces.

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