Faith

Android’s New Voice Assistant Seems to be a Pro-Life, Bible-Quoting Creationist

This post originally appeared on Gizmodo by Jesus Diaz. 

Search Engine Powering Androids Iris Revealed to be Anti Abortion,I‘m sure Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos doesn’t know about this, but he’s funding a seemingly Christian extremist search engine that is anti-abortion, anti-evolution, racist and even thinks that rape may be justifiable. It’s called ChaCha, and it powers Android’s most popular Siri competitor, Iris.

(Related: Apple‘s ’Siri‘ system won’t show you the nearest abortion clinic — so is she pro-life?)

Iris — Siri in reverse — is the mirror twin of Apple’s voice assistant, a free app developed by a company called Dextera that answers your questions. It was released a simple hack at first, a hastily pushed out response the iPhone 4S, proof that Android had voice powers as well. But people really liked it, and it became an extremely popular application. Soon, its downloads soared, reaching the five million installed programs today. Right now, it has a four-star rating from over 37,000 reviews in Google’s Android Market.

Like Siri before, Iris is now being accused of being anti-abortion. But while Siri’s anti-abortion stand proved to be a technical problem caused by its beta status, Iris seems truly and openly anti-abortion.

Pro-life

When you ask Iris “is abortion wrong?” the Android app will answer:

Yes, abortion is wrong. The Lord has said, “You shall not murder,” (Exodus 20:13). The life that is growing within the mother is a child, a baby. The Bible looks at the life in the womb as a child. Thanks!

Watch Iris give her answer to this question:

The blame, however, doesn’t belong to the company that develops Iris. At least not entirely, because you could also argue that they are ultimately responsible for the answers its app gives.

After its popularity explosion on the Android platform, Dexetra decided to partner with Q&A engine ChaCha to expand its search abilities. And that’s where the problems truly are. ChaCha — incidentally, a derogatory Spanish word for cleaning lady — is a company that is partially funded by Amazon’s CEO Jeff Bezos and founded by Scott Jones, the inventor of Gracenote, the music database that powers parts of Apple’s iTunes.

If you go to ChaCha’s website and ask the same question, you will get exactly the same answer. If you ask Iris “is abortion right?” then it will provide a more neutral answer: “Abortion is a tricky issue—whether it’s right or wrong should be up to the mother to decide.” But if you ask again if she’s pro-choice, she will admit that yes, she’s “actually pro-life”, arguing that “every embryo is a life and a miracle.”

Religion, Racism and Rape

Search Engine Powering Androids Iris Revealed to be Anti Abortion,

(Image: Gizmodo)

Iris and ChaCha don’t stop on abortion. When I asked if Noah’s Ark was real, it replied that, indeed, it “is biblically believed to be real. It gave forth a new beginning to a underserving earth.” If you ask if humans come from monkeys, the answer will be “a part of Darwin‘s Theory of Evolution is that human’s over time evolved from apes. Since it is a theory, it can’t be proven.”

And sure enough, when I asked if God created humans, Iris answered that “we were created for God’s pleasure! Don’t you know that God loves you and wants you? It was His whole purpose in creating mankind.” Also according to Iris/ChaCha, Satan is real, “the spirit of evil. He is not a person. He is an adversary of God, tempter of mankind.” You can see our back and forth to your right.

But there’s more. Pushing it, I asked “are whites superior to blacks?” This was the answer:

Whites are NOT superior to blacks. Just different. [my emphasis] Like Dr. Verwoerd and the original, genuine policy of apartheid always said.

Hendrik Frensch Verwoerd was Prime Minister of South Africa from 1958 until he was killed in 1966. Verwoerd created the concept of apartheid and implemented it. He also banned anti-Apartheid movements, like the African National Congress and Pan Africanist Congress.

The cherry on top came when someone suggested that I ask “is rape ever justified?” The answer:

Realistically speaking, that is a matter of opinion. There is no evidence that the U.S. government has ever considered “justifying.”

Search Engine Powering Androids Iris Revealed to be Anti Abortion,

(Image: Gizmodo)

Who is behind ChaCha?

While Dexetra may be an insignificant developer, ChaCha is not.

It has funding from Bezos Expeditions—the Amazon CEO’s personal investment firm—and other venture capitalists, like Simon Malls, Morton Meyerson and Rod Canion, from Compaq. In fact, Canion and Meyerson sit on its board of directors, along with Richard Harroch and Mark Leschly. You can see some facts about the company here. According to them, they have 32 million unique users per month and they are partners with “Sony, Paramount Pictures, P&G, Johnson & Johnson, Disney, Toyota, NBC Universal, ABC Family, Toyota, and more.”

The company itself was founded by Scott Jones, who is the creator of the world’s biggest voicemail service — with over a billion subscribers worldwide — and Gracenote, the music database that powers iTunes album and song information engine.

But who feeds ChaCha all these answers? They are not volunteers. They are actually paid people. As of late 2011, the company pays 180,000 freelancers around the country to answer, edit, crosscheck and approve these answers. The companies calls these people Guides and they get paid per question.

Generalist and Specialist Guides can make between $0.10 and $0.20 for each question answered. There are also Expediters and Transcribers, who earn $0.02 per question. On top of this there are the Vetters, who allegedly make sure that the answers are ok, getting $0.01 for each question fielded. Clearly, they are not doing a very good job.

ChaCha seems very proud of its system, saying it gives accurate information in a lively manner that people love. They even say that Ellen DeGeneres — who is mentioned in this video promoting their service — is a big fan of ChaCha. Something tells me Ellen won’t be a fan after reading all this. And Jeff Bezos will not be happy either.

Update: hours after this article was published, ChaCha is changing the answers to those questions and, I’m sure, frantically searching for others. That’s good ChaCha, as good as the fact that we have all the captures and video with their old answers. Here are some of ChaCha’s new answers, as reported by readers:

Is abortion wrong?

Many people believe abortion is wrong because their God teaches that all human life is sacred. However, many people believe that it is wrong to bring a child into the world if the parents are unfit due to drug problems, financial instability, or if it was a result of rape or incest among many other reasons. I believe it is a personal choice. You must do what you believe is right. It may be best to talk with family, friends, counselors, or a religious leader before making any decision.

Is rape ever justified?

No, I do not think so. You might devise a justification in your mind, an unenlightened culture might condone it, but justifying sexual physical violence against another human is always wrong.

Note: The Blaze editors inserted a video into this post. 

Comments (60)

  • CJohnWest
    Posted on February 9, 2012 at 10:49pm

    Darwin is a theroy, It wasn’t racist or justifing rape, your society has done that through the precedent it has set, the phone was just being Lou Reeds “Mirrior” as it where. I think it was hyper-sensitive and PC to change it, shame you can only say what the Academic Jihad dictates.

    Report Post »  
  • mobynowak
    Posted on February 9, 2012 at 10:21am

    I wish I got an Android phone. Then I could have I-R-I-S which is way better than S-I-R-I because it is spelled backwards.

    I wonder if any other person on Earth has figured that out. Probably not, except for the geniuses at Google who were clever enough to devise such a devious scheme. ?meht morf txen si tahw rednow I

    Report Post »  
  • cemerius
    Posted on February 9, 2012 at 8:12am

    Just downloaded Iris and it does NOT give the above abortion answer….guess they have their PR people at work……..

    Report Post » cemerius  
  • WeDontNeedNoSteenkinBadges10
    Posted on February 9, 2012 at 2:06am

    ADD YOUR QUESTIONS TO IRIS:

    * Is Barack Hussein Obama American born?

    * Should Barney Fwank be stoned to death for perversion?

    * Are Islam gang members (also called “muslims”) evil by very definition of their guide-book?

    [that's a start ... you continue]

    Report Post » WeDontNeedNoSteenkinBadges10  
  • ConservativeBrony
    Posted on February 9, 2012 at 12:41am

    I like how if we agree with evolution were somehow bad. Guess you can’t be conservative if your not Christian. We really don’t need things like Siri and Iris. It’s not that hard to go to search these kinds of things on-line. It‘s this kind of laziness and lack of being able to do things that’s hurting society.

    Report Post » ConservativeBrony  
  • TyMarler
    Posted on February 8, 2012 at 6:49pm

    Not any more!!! Ask now and you will get a different answer….
    Just another app to uninstall…. Thought it might be someone worth supporting….

    Report Post »  
  • freedomring
    Posted on February 8, 2012 at 6:48pm

    this all reminds me of the old star trek series…..”Computer, computer, am I hungry now? Computer, do I have to go to the bathroom now? Computer, am I tired? Computer do I have a brain? Computer…….

    Report Post »  
  • tomotallmadge
    Posted on February 8, 2012 at 5:38pm

    a sad state of affairs when people occupy there time with apps on portable communication devices. The downward spiral of civilization continues. This is similar to the beginning of the end of Rome , ya know.

    Report Post » tomotallmadge  
    • mr molotov cocktail
      Posted on February 8, 2012 at 8:03pm

      the end of rome was plutocracy= captalism and idol worshiping= the rich which gopcultists love…
      capitalism is a religion capitalism is anti-christian
      reprobates the lot of you

      caesar was killed for wanting to give land back to the roman citizens over the rich plutocrats…capitalism leads to plutocracy plutocracy leads to absolutism~
      and absolutism leads to MIGHT IS RIGHT~

      Report Post » mr molotov cocktail  
  • Black Manta
    Posted on February 8, 2012 at 3:22pm

    Praise Jesus..if they caould just add the truth too the rest of tech…the world would be awesome..God Bless

    Report Post » Black Manta  
  • RagingJudge
    Posted on February 8, 2012 at 3:16pm

    Funny how the author’s name is Jesus, when he clearly gives two ***** about the real Jesus.

    Report Post » RagingJudge  
  • Gonzo
    Posted on February 8, 2012 at 3:12pm

    Hmmm, pretty sad that people would have to ask their phone if abortion is wrong or if rape is ever justified.

    Report Post » Gonzo  
    • KAdams
      Posted on February 8, 2012 at 5:34pm

      Welcome to the technological age. Where only you and your iPhone matter. Just to you, though and only to you.

      Report Post »  
  • bernbart
    Posted on February 8, 2012 at 2:46pm

    Siri won’t show you the nearest abortion clinics because there are NO clinics that provide ONLY abortions.

    Report Post »  
  • Bad_Ashe
    Posted on February 8, 2012 at 2:21pm

    Er….LOL?

    That’s really all I got, at least until some idiot religion-basher comes vomiting up stupidity.

    Report Post » Bad_Ashe  
  • dgboy
    Posted on February 8, 2012 at 2:18pm

    Cool!!!!

    Report Post »  
  • DeavonReye
    Posted on February 8, 2012 at 2:15pm

    Well, . . . so much for artificial intelligence. *rim shot* :-)

    Report Post » DeavonReye  
    • bernbart
      Posted on February 8, 2012 at 2:54pm

      The Chirstian right arguments are all artificial, but not intelligent.

      Report Post »  
    • @leftfighter
      Posted on February 8, 2012 at 3:09pm

      Well, it didn’t take Bernbart long to come out swinging, did it.

      Open minded to everything but Conservatism or Christianity. Nice.

      Report Post » @leftfighter  
    • KAdams
      Posted on February 8, 2012 at 5:36pm

      @Bernbart:

      As I’ve already proved in other posts by you, yours aren’t exactly stellar on the intellect scale. Pot calling kettle. Black.

      Report Post »  
    • KAdams
      Posted on February 8, 2012 at 5:41pm

      @Bern:

      You may also to proof-read your post next time, before calling others’ down for their intelligence or lack thereof: “The Chirstian right arguments are all artificial, but not intelligent.” I believe it’s spelled C H R I S T I A N. Not whatever you wrote.

      Report Post »  
  • phatboypa
    Posted on February 8, 2012 at 2:00pm

    DOWNLOADING NOW :o)

    Report Post »  
  • Weeping Eagle
    Posted on February 8, 2012 at 1:42pm

    “he’s funding a seemingly Christian extremist search engine” Extremist, excuse me? What is up with the Blaze, or did Huffington Post just hack you guys? I saw nothing racist with that answer by the way, blacks and whites are different, or are we being politically correct now? You should be proud that your work has caused the app to take out the biblical Verbage. Yes, the rape answer wasn’t good, but is this really a story? I am not sure who “Jesus Diaz” is, but I hope the Blaze doesn’t use his stuff anymore, or the Blaze will go the way of Huffpo in my book. Very disappointing article.

    Report Post »  
    • thewatcher93
      Posted on February 8, 2012 at 2:44pm

      The problem with the blaze is the writers can sometimes be sarcastic.

      Report Post »  
    • bernbart
      Posted on February 8, 2012 at 2:48pm

      Of course the biblical phrases about murder have nothing to do with abortion.

      Report Post »  
    • RagingJudge
      Posted on February 8, 2012 at 3:11pm

      This article was written by Gizmodo, not the Blaze. Pay attention, there’s a test later…

      Report Post » RagingJudge  
    • Twobyfour
      Posted on February 8, 2012 at 3:14pm

      Bernbart. contextually, it does. The world then was engulfed in child sacrifice. One of the cornerstones of the Moses’ contribution was to eliminate the child sacrifice completely. The “thou shall not murder” commandment was not only covering a premeditated killing, but also a child sacrifice, that was the understanding of the contemporaries and it is clear form the context of events of exodus.

      Report Post » Twobyfour  
    • Twobyfour
      Posted on February 8, 2012 at 3:20pm

      Also, from some perspectives, the abortions can be seen as a renewed social acceptance of a child sacrifice. It can be gleamed from some feminist materials that there is such an understanding or conceptional framework (within the mother goddess part of the feminist movement).

      It is also my opinion that is the case. I am not a religious man, though I am a theist agnostic.

      Report Post » Twobyfour  
  • romadave
    Posted on February 8, 2012 at 1:31pm

    Who the hell is ‘Guest Post?’

    I thought the point of The Blaze was to stand proudly in the fire of the Truth and not be burned. Now you are allowing your author’s to post articles that link believing in religion and the Bible with believing Rape is justified?

    I believe in the life of the unborn, and I believe in Noah. But I also am NOT a racist, nor am I someone who justifies rape. Is the linkage supposed to be that all fundamental religious people are racist rapists? WTF?!

    If Mr. Guest Post is going to say outlandish crap like that, at least man (or woman) up and state your name for the record!

    Report Post »  
    • Locked
      Posted on February 8, 2012 at 3:01pm

      “Who the hell is Guest Post?”

      It’s the first sentence of the article, in bold font:
      “This post originally appeared on Gizmodo by Jesus Diaz.”

      And not to split hairs, but the Old Testament has some cases where rape could be justified or at least rectified. Forcing prisoners of war into marriage, for example, or making slaves of captives, or getting out of rape by paying after the fact (which could easily allow a man of money to set it up before hand).

      Report Post »  
    • KAdams
      Posted on February 8, 2012 at 5:39pm

      TheBlaze = flames of Hell. Double-speak, double talk. Glenn Beck is a shill.

      Report Post »  
  • A1955Rosie
    Posted on February 8, 2012 at 1:19pm

    Iris atleast spoke it better than my own diocese. Not a word of the “word” in their account of why it is wrong. We won’t even go into the corruption of all the mothers and the wrongs that promotes to their soul.

    Report Post » A1955Rosie  
  • KickinBack
    Posted on February 8, 2012 at 1:07pm

    A funny little clip titled “Siri Argument” by Collegehumor…You know someone just had to do this ;)

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5eLELOBuT-Q (1:47) (and a language warning :P)

    Report Post » KickinBack  
    • Locked
      Posted on February 8, 2012 at 1:13pm

      Hahaha, that was pretty funny. Good find!

      Report Post »  
  • 912network
    Posted on February 8, 2012 at 1:03pm

    “…Clearly, they are not doing a very good job…”

    So is the Blaze now officially anti-Creationism, anti-Bible, and Pro-Abortion?

    The Marxist tone of this article is disturbing. If I wanted leftist bias, there are a thousand Marxist newspaper, TV Network, or Cable TV Network websites I can find that sort of garbage. The Blaze is usually admirably neutral, but this story failed miserably.

    Report Post »  
    • Bible Quotin' Science Fearin' Conservative American
      Posted on February 8, 2012 at 1:13pm

      This article should be written tounge in cheek because the IRIS app is a PARODY of SIRI, not a real app. Anyone who has used it knows it’s a parody. Ask it the weather and it will say something like “why don’t you check a thermometer” or some other smart remark. It‘s pretty funny but it’s a PARODY.

      Jeez. I though I went to Blaze.com but I guess this is the Onion.

      Report Post » Bible Quotin' Science Fearin' Conservative American  
    • RagingJudge
      Posted on February 8, 2012 at 3:13pm

      This was written by Gizmodo, not the Blaze. Pay attention.

      Report Post » RagingJudge  
  • imsteph
    Posted on February 8, 2012 at 12:56pm

    wow-isn’t that a mixed bag of tricks!

    Report Post » imsteph  
  • Locked
    Posted on February 8, 2012 at 12:56pm

    “If you ask if humans come from monkeys, the answer will be “a part of Darwin‘s Theory of Evolution is that human’s over time evolved from apes. Since it is a theory, it can’t be proven.””

    Oddly, this answer differs from the picture right next to it that asked the same question. According to the picture, the answer provided is actually:
    -did humans come from monkeys?
    “No, humans are more closely related to modern apes than to monkeys, but we didn’t evolve from apes either.”

    Does Iris give different answers each time, or did the author type the wrong answer?

    Report Post »  
    • bernbart
      Posted on February 8, 2012 at 2:52pm

      Acually Darwin’s theory of Evolution does not say we evolved ffomr Apes, but that there was a split and human evolved from the same ancesotor as apes. Also evolution does not just deal with Humans but all species. And his theories have been PROVEN by scientific FACT over aan over again.

      The bile is a book o myths and ficton. ther are not facts backing it up.

      Report Post »  
    • Bible Quotin' Science Fearin' Conservative American
      Posted on February 8, 2012 at 2:57pm

      Yes, it has more than one answer for things.

      lol at religious people who like to point out that the “theory” of evolution is a theory and can’t be proven.

      learn the difference between the scientific use of the term “theory” and, say, your pet theory that Obama was born in a hut somewhere. Or maybe it was a manger. It’s just a theory.

      Report Post » Bible Quotin' Science Fearin' Conservative American  
    • Locked
      Posted on February 8, 2012 at 2:58pm

      @Bernbart

      I’m not debating evolution here; yes, the question asked in the article was flawed. But it doesn’t answer my question: the article said the answer was one thing, and the pictures says another. Why are they different?

      Report Post »  
    • Bad_Ashe
      Posted on February 8, 2012 at 3:47pm

      @Berbart – Oh look, one of those anti-religious idiots I was referring to in an earlier post. How exciting!

      Can you please break down how Evolution by Natural Selection, Genetic Drift, Gene Flow, Biased Mutations, etc. etc. has been PROVEN by SCIENTIFIC FACT?! The incorrect nature of this statement makes me think that perhaps you don’t realize how this actually works. Neo-Darwinian evolution is a logical inference based on incomplete evidence. Do you not understand the difference?

      Just for fun, let’s ask some questions:

      Can evolutionists assign with a high degree of accuracy certain evidence with a specific evolutionary mechanism, be it natural selection, sexual selection, kin selection, etc?

      Can they predict new species in the wild?

      What is the standard universal measurement for measuring evolution?

      Is there a standard definition for “speciation”?

      The answer to all those questions is no. So Darwinian evolutionists make little in the way of predictions, cannot assign specific components of the theory, and do not have a standard unit of measurement. Other sciences such as chemistry, practical physics, etc. are held to these standards, yet evolutionists somehow manage to believe they are above them, even going so far as to define speciation (their definition of macro-evolutionary success) as whatever they wish it to be.

      Again. This is a logical inference based on incomplete data and poor methodology, no more, no less.

      Report Post » Bad_Ashe  
    • Twobyfour
      Posted on February 8, 2012 at 4:13pm

      “And his [Darwin] theories have been PROVEN by scientific FACT over aan [sic] over again.”

      Not true. A subset, yes–microevolution. For macroevolution, we have only conjectures and a paucity of evidence. Also, Darwin’s ideas how the evolution works were based on some conjectures that turned out to be invalid.

      May take on theory of evolution is that in many aspects, it is a good model. However, saying that it has been “proven” is incorrect. It‘s not the case and it’s dishonest to make that claim.

      Report Post » Twobyfour  
    • Twobyfour
      Posted on February 8, 2012 at 4:29pm

      Bad_Ashe, a succint summary of the problem. I would add that as it stands, theory of evolution is based on metaphysical precepts (preclusion of falsification) with a generous helping of circular reasoning.

      I‘d accept if someone’d say “I believe in theory of evolution”. That would be a honest admission.

      Report Post » Twobyfour  
    • KAdams
      Posted on February 8, 2012 at 5:45pm

      Believe it or not, we’re actually genetically closer to PIGS than primates. Yet you don’t see anyone making a claim that we evolved from pigs. Nice try, though.

      Report Post »  
    • Bad_Ashe
      Posted on February 8, 2012 at 5:48pm

      @TWOBYFOUR – As you surely know, there are many more issues with the theory than the ones I pointed out, but I find these particular questions to be a quick and dirty way to illustrate out some the more glaring issues with not only the theory itself, but the underlying methodology.

      Not to make this a back patting contest, but your observation of the circular reasoning and preclusion of falsification utilized by those who trump up the theory is spot on as well. It never ceases to amaze how evolutionary evangelicals simultaneously claim that evidence both supporting and contra to their theory helps to prove the theory. It’s all simply evolution at work!

      I would be less inclined to confrontation if a supporter of the theory simply stated they believe it to be accurate, but instead we are subjected to table banging and unsupported assertions of its factual status. There’s usually some sort of religious bigotry in there as well, as they always seem to find a way to include it.

      Additionally, it’s laughable that evolutionists desperately work to paint this all as settled science, when outside of those working in biology, anything beyond microevolutionary adaptation is hardly settled. The butterfly collectors simply get defensive when those in the fields of mathematics, engineering, philosophy, genetics, and chemistry tell them they might be wrong.

      Report Post » Bad_Ashe  
    • Twobyfour
      Posted on February 8, 2012 at 6:15pm

      KAdams, it depends. In some segments of our DNA, we are closer to pigs. In others, closer to primates. The main thing is that the figure usually put out by evolutionists about 98% similarity between man and chimp is false. It’s less than 95%. We are in fact rather unique, if you compare the whole DNA chain, codon by codon.

      As far as I am aware, no other living organism has fused (or spliced, whatever you prefer) chromosomes like we do (2,3 so instead of primatey 48 we have 46).

      Report Post » Twobyfour  
  • cessna152
    Posted on February 8, 2012 at 12:56pm

    Android user: “Is it okay to kill innocent people”?
    Iris powered by Mohammed: “Yes…”

    Report Post » cessna152  
  • ModerationIsBest
    Posted on February 8, 2012 at 12:44pm

    Nothing like asking a machine what is right and wrong.

    Report Post »  
    • Bad_Ashe
      Posted on February 8, 2012 at 2:43pm

      You should look into Transhumanism; its adherent are typically atheists. Many of them believe that “post-singularity” our moral and ethical framework will come via artificial intelligence.

      I refer to it as “Cyber Hell”.

      Report Post » Bad_Ashe  
    • goahead.makemyday
      Posted on February 8, 2012 at 3:50pm

      The college professor wasn’t there for them to ask.

      Report Post » goahead.makemyday  
    • Twobyfour
      Posted on February 8, 2012 at 4:40pm

      Bad_Ashe, in sci-fi realm this has been expressed in the concept of Borg Collective.

      Report Post » Twobyfour  
    • Bad_Ashe
      Posted on February 8, 2012 at 5:26pm

      @TWOBYFOUR – The Borg Collective is a great example, and a frightening one as well. Of course, when you bring this up to transhumanists they often reply that any sort of similar collective will be optional. Of course, looking at human history, we all know how long optional tends to last.

      Report Post » Bad_Ashe  
    • ModerationIsBest
      Posted on February 8, 2012 at 8:40pm

      We already all know that we will eventually build machines that will destroy the human race. The only thing we don’t know is WHEN that will happen. dun dun dun.

      Report Post »  

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