'I'm not a typo campaign': People with autocorrected names approach tech companies to fix 'bias'

People Like Us, a non-profit organisation, highlighted autocorrect bias in a billboard campaign last year. (Image: @iamnotatypo/Instagram)

People whose names are consistently mangled by autocorrect are calling for swift action from tech companies. Among the frustrated is Savan-Chandni Gandecha, whose name, meaning "monsoon moonlight," often gets switched to "Satan." “I am tired of it,” they declared.

This outcry is part of the “I Am Not a Typo” campaign, which highlights the plight of those with Irish, Indian, and Welsh names. The campaign seeks to make technology more inclusive and sensitive to cultural diversity.

Savan-Chandni, a 34-year-old British Indian content creator, shared their experiences: “My name has been autocorrected to Savant, Savan, or even stripped of its hyphen, which irks me. Even in India, it becomes ‘Sawan.’ It’s not just an English issue; it’s multi-lingual.”

The campaign’s research found that in 2021, four out of ten baby names in England and Wales were flagged as “wrong” or “unaccepted” by Microsoft’s dictionary. Journalist Dhruti Shah, whose name often becomes “Dirty” or “Dorito,” backed the campaign, saying, “When my name is considered an error, it feels like not just my name but my identity is being invalidated.”

The campaign group, consisting of creatives from London, penned an open letter to tech companies, pointing out that between 2017 and 2021, 2,328 babies named Esmae were born, compared to just 36 Nigels. Yet, Esmae gets autocorrected to Admar while Nigel remains untouched.

“There are so many diverse names in the global majority, but autocorrect is western- and white-focused,” lamented Gandecha.

Facebook and Microsoft have been contacted for their stance. Microsoft previously introduced an inclusiveness spellchecker in its Office 365 software, encouraging users to replace terms like “headmaster” with “principal” and “manpower” with “workforce.”

People Like Us, a non-profit organisation, highlighted autocorrect bias in a billboard campaign last year, linking it to the ethnicity pay gap. Rashmi Dyal-Chand, a professor at Northeastern University, whose name sometimes becomes "Sashimi," supports the latest campaign. “Autocorrect isn’t just unhelpful; it’s harmful,” she said, noting that her research concluded autocorrect favours certain users at the expense of others.

Karen Fox, mother to Eoin and Niamh, voiced her frustrations: “The red line bothers me – I didn’t choose the ‘wrong’ name for my child. Tech companies update dictionaries with slang all the time. This should be an easy and crucial fix."