Kannada, which is a language of royalty and poets, is the most ugliest language in India, according to Google. The search giant has cooked up a storm after a Google search on “Ugliest Language in India”, showed the result as Kannada. After heavy backlash and multiple reports by users, Google removed the snippet.
The people of Karnataka were in for a rude shock when a Google query on the ugliest language in India showed the result as Kannada – one of the country’s oldest known and a royal language.
Bangalorean and the Chairman of Aarin Capital, Mohandas Pai said, “I think an apology from Google is required. It’s a mistake by the AI engine, it’s grossly insensitive and unneeded to make this kind of snippet. They have to remove that, you can’t classify some language this way. Nobody knows what and how they do it.”
On the other hand, BJP MP PC Mohan highlighted the rich cultural heritage and legacy of the Kannada language. Taking to Twitter, the MP from Bengaluru Central said, “Home to the great Vijayanagara Empire, #Kannada language has a rich heritage, a glorious legacy and a unique culture. One of the world’s oldest languages Kannada had great scholars who wrote epics much before Geoffrey Chaucer was born in the 14th century. Apologise.”
Home to the great Vijayanagara Empire, #Kannada language has a rich heritage, a glorious legacy and a unique culture. One of the world’s oldest languages Kannada had great scholars who wrote epics much before Geoffrey Chaucer was born in the 14th century. Apologise @GoogleIndia. pic.twitter.com/Xie927D0mf
— P C Mohan (Modi Ka Parivar) (@PCMohanMP) June 3, 2021
One enraged Twitter user wrote, “Dear @Google @GoogleIndia this is the disrespect to the oldest language of the country #kannada Moreover there is no such language which is ugly… every language has got its own respect n love Yellow heartRed heart Hoping for the further serious action on this soon.”
Realising the outrage and the hurt sentiments, Google quickly fixed the error and apologised to the people as the search engine giant claimed that the search result did not reflect its opinion.
However, it is unlikely that the apology will cut ice as Karnataka Minister for Kannada, Culture and Forest, Aravind Limbavali stated that a legal notice will be served to Google for showing Kannada as the ugliest language in India.
Taking to Twitter, Limbavali said, “… is merely an attempt by Google to insult this pride of Kannadigas. I demand an apology from @Google ASAP to Kannada, Kannadigas. Legal action will be taken against Google for maligning the image of our beautiful language!”
NDTV reported a Google Spokesperson as saying, “The search isn’t always perfect. Sometimes, the way content is described on the internet can yield surprising results to specific queries.”
The Spokesperson added, “We know this is not ideal, but we take swift corrective action when we are made aware of an issue and are continually working to improve our algorithms. Naturally, these are not reflective of the opinions of Google, and we apologise for the misunderstanding and hurting any sentiments.”