Lubbock Gamers React to Intel’s ‘N-Word Slider’

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It's hard for me to talk about the image you see above seriously. Out of context, it's one of the funniest things I've ever seen. A real, professional-looking presentation with an N-word slider in the background.

I'll give you a run-down of what exactly it is you're looking at, as you're very likely confused:

Intel's Bleep

Bleep is an AI software that is meant to give you the option to censor voice chat while you're playing multiplayer games. Polygon says that it censors hate speech in real time by bleeping out offensive language.

The intentions are good. I can't deny that. In the YouTube video Intel posted detailing Bleep, they tell stories of gamers around the world who have to deal with the inflammatory language a lot of people use online. However, this seems like a secondary solution to an almost unsolvable problem:

If the idea is to tone down the toxicity you experience while playing, I don't see how this helps. I don't see what circumstances exist that make this a better system than just muting people.

-Lucas [REDACTED]

That's just one of the reactions I gathered from people here in Lubbock in response to Intel's new software, and I have to agree. I don't understand how getting a software to bleep out words is better than just shutting someone up completely.

Others are worried about censorship in general:

I just don't like the idea of people having control over what is ok to be said.

-Jacob [REDACTED]

So now that you know what the software does, let's just glance over at all the neat little customization sliders at the top of this post again.

Maybe you only want SOME misogyny in your lobbies?

The sliders.

I gotta talk about the sliders.

I guess this is for gamers who cared enough to get Bleep and censor some total Ronald's racist comments in CS:GO, but still want some of the offensive talk to stick around.

As some other locals put it:

I still want some misogyny now, let's not get carried away.

-Kenneth [REDACTED]

I'm feeling a little misogynistic today.

-Jack [REDACTED]

Really weird how none of the last names are showing up for my quotes. Not sure how to fix it.

Anyway, despite the obvious sarcasm, it's a fair point. Why would you be ok with some LGBTQIA+ hate but not all? Or any other kind of hate speech? And how exactly does the program determine that? Kim Pallister, general manager of Intel's gaming solutions team, says that answer is complicated. So maybe we'll never know.

But I haven't even gotten into how funny seeing an "N-Word Slider" is out of context. Or hell, even in context. Do you just wake up some mornings and think "Yeah, I think I'm okay to hear the n-word today?" And then on other days you're not cool with it?

Twitter's loving it, as you would expect:

The meme potential is infinite, but despite how funny it looks to me, I'll still applaud the intentions behind it. I know the software is still in beta, so it'll probably look different when it's done, but maybe next time you do a presentation on something meant to deter hate speech, don't just show straight up show us an option for "The N-Word," yeah? You're gonna get meme'd on, no matter how good the intentions were.