Days after sparking a debate by calling gender pronouns an "illness", Bhavish Aggarwal has now called out LinkedIn after the jobs portal removed his post criticising their AI for using non-binary pronouns for him.
The chief executive officer of ride-hailing giant Ola took to X, formerly Twitter, publicly calling out LinkedIn. He shared a screenshot showing a warning under his removed post: "Only you can see this post. It's been removed because it goes against our professional community guidelines." The screenshot showed the originally posted content criticising LinkedIn's AI for using "they/them" pronouns to refer to him.
"Dear LinkedIn this post of mine was about YOUR AI imposing a political ideology on Indian users that's unsafe, sinister. Rich of you to call my post unsafe! This is exactly why we need to build own tech and AI in India. Else we'll just be pawns in others political objectives," he said in the X post.
Dear @LinkedIn this post of mine was about YOUR AI imposing a political ideology on Indian users that's unsafe, sinister.
May 9, 2024
Rich of you to call my post unsafe! This is exactly why we need to build own tech and AI in India. Else we'll just be pawns in others political objectives. pic.twitter.com/ZWqiM90eT1Background: Pronoun Controversy
Earlier, Aggarwal ignited debate online by criticising the use of gender pronouns, particularly non-binary ones. He expressed concern on Twitter that "pronoun illness" was spreading in India due to Western influence.
His post, which received mixed reactions, showed a screenshot of LinkedIn's AI bot referring to him with "they" and "them" pronouns. He argued this was an imposition of "political ideology" by the platform.
Some users supported his stance against mandatory pronoun usage, arguing it's an unnecessary addition to professional profiles. They believe focusing on an individual's qualifications and experience holds greater importance.
However, others heavily criticised Aggarwal's terminology, calling "pronoun illness" insensitive and disrespectful. Users emphasised the importance of respecting individual preferences, particularly for those who identify outside the gender binary.
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