Negative buzz at the STM after AI labels Bishop Street bus stop as ‘Beeshop’

Artificial intelligence (AI) erred in naming the 'Bishop' Montreal bus stop 'Beeshop.'

Artificial intelligence (AI) is making great leaps to help people in their everyday tasks, right down to translating material in various languages.

But sometimes, it makes mistakes leading to some embarrassing ones, and the Société de transport de Montréal (STM) is no exception.

Bishop Street in Montreal is believed to be named after 19th century Anglican bishop Francis Fulford. Except on Montreal’s 747 bus line, it’s been re-christened as “Beeshop” and it created a negative buzz at the public transit agency.

“So, yes, you know, we’re using AI probably in many places and sometimes ... we need to have some supervisor in there. In that case, it didn’t happen,” Aref Salem, vice-chair of the City of Montreal’s executive committee, explained to CJAD 800 Radio.

The STM said it will rectify the sign, but it couldn’t explain why its map wasn’t proofread in the first place.

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Examples of questionable translations abound in the city. For example, the street Prince-of-Wales Avenue in the Notre-Dame-de-Grâce neighbourhood. A local contractor made a huge blunder by calling it the Prince of Whales.

The sign might be funny, but for a lot of people, it’s also a sign that we’re relying way too much on AI.

“This story is a perfect example of why AI cannot be trusted to fully take over from humans any time soon. It makes mistakes, it hallucinates … it can fabulate,” said technology journalist Carmi Levy.

It’s an embarrassment, too, for professional translators who are being replaced by AI.

“Most of all, we do check, we do verify the translation. So it’s even more than proofreading because you have to check the terminology, the technical terminology, is that the right words, the right syntax, the right grammar — everything,” said Betty Cohen, president of Quebec’s order of translators and interpreters.

Proof, she says, that humans still have the edge when it comes to common sense.

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