Chinese messaging app WeChat has apologised after its software used the N-word as an English translation for the Chinese for "black foreigner".
中國(guó)消息應(yīng)用程序微信最近因自己軟件對(duì)“black foreigner”（黑老外）的不當(dāng)翻譯而向公眾道歉。
The company blamed its algorithms for producing the error.
公司稱(chēng)這個(gè)錯(cuò)誤是由于公司軟件算法失誤造成的。
It was spotted by Ann James, a black American living in Shanghai, when she texted her Chinese colleagues to say she was running late.
Ms James, who uses WeChat's translation feature to read Chinese responses, got the reply: "The [racial slur] is late."
這個(gè)錯(cuò)誤由安 詹姆斯，一個(gè)生活在上海的美籍黑人發(fā)現(xiàn)。當(dāng)時(shí)她發(fā)微信告訴自己的同事說(shuō)她可能會(huì)遲到。詹姆斯一般用微信的翻譯功能來(lái)閱讀同事的回復(fù)，卻在信息中發(fā)現(xiàn)，同事的回復(fù)為“**（種族歧視詞語(yǔ)）要遲到了?！?/p>
Horrified, she checked the Chinese phrase - "hei laowai" - with a co-worker and was told it was a neutral expression, not a profanity.
她當(dāng)時(shí)很吃驚，并與同行的人一同檢查了“黑老外”這個(gè)詞，發(fā)現(xiàn)這個(gè)詞在中國(guó)是個(gè)中性詞，并不具有侮辱性。
WeChat acknowledged the error to China-focused news site Sixth Tone, saying: "We're very sorry for the inappropriate translation. After receiving users' feedback, we immediately fixed the problem."
微信借助高度關(guān)注中國(guó)的《第六聲》新聞網(wǎng)站稱(chēng)：“我們對(duì)于系統(tǒng)中不當(dāng)?shù)姆g感到抱歉。一經(jīng)收到用戶(hù)的反饋，我們立即更正了這個(gè)錯(cuò)誤?！?/p>
The app's software uses artificial intelligence that has been fed huge reams of text to help it pick the best translations.
這個(gè)應(yīng)用使用的是具有人工智能的軟件，軟件中附帶大量的文本代碼來(lái)幫助系統(tǒng)選擇出最恰當(dāng)?shù)姆g。
These are based on context, so it sometimes uses insulting phrases when talking about negative events.
這些翻譯都是基于語(yǔ)句情景，所以在涉及到消極事件時(shí)的翻譯有時(shí)會(huì)出現(xiàn)具有侮辱性的詞語(yǔ)。
Local outlet That's Shanghai tested the app, and found that when used to wish someone happy birthday, the phrase "hei laowai" was translated as "black foreigner". But when a sentence included negative words like "late" or "lazy," it produced the racist insult.
《城市漫步》曾測(cè)試過(guò)這個(gè)應(yīng)用，并發(fā)現(xiàn)：當(dāng)語(yǔ)句是祝福別人生日快樂(lè)時(shí)，“黑老外”被翻譯成"black foreigner"；但是當(dāng)語(yǔ)句中含有消極詞語(yǔ)，如“遲到”、“懶惰”時(shí)，收到的翻譯則具有種族歧視傾向。
Almost a billion people use WeChat, which lets users play games, shop online, and pay for things as well as sending messages. It resembles another popular chat app, WhatsApp, but is subject to censorship.
有近乎10億的用戶(hù)使用微信，他們?cè)谖⑿派习l(fā)送信息的同時(shí)，還能在上面玩游戲、網(wǎng)購(gòu)和支付。它和另一個(gè)流行的聊天工具WhatsApp很相似，但是WhatsApp正在接受相關(guān)審查。
