Microsoft Apologizes For Inviting Bae Interns To ‘Get Lit’ With 'Hella Noms' And 'Dranks'
Microsoft might be trying just a little too hard to identify with today's youth by throwing down lingo that comes off as wildly inappropriate and cringe worthy from a professional entity. Hey, we're all for letting incoming interns know that there's a party going on and there will be beer pong, but referring to recruits as "bae intern" complete with a heart emoticon is where we have to draw the line. Not that it matters, because Microsoft stumbled over it in embarrassing fashion and is now apologizing.
It all started when Microsoft sent out an email inviting San Francisco Bay Area interns to an exclusive party. The invitation began with "HEY BAE INTERN! <3" in bold, pink text and went on to explain that this party will have "hella noms" and "lots of dranks." Kim, the Microsoft University Recruiter who sent the email, also made clear that her "crew" from Microsoft's headquarters in Seattle would be in attendance.
My roommate received this email from a Microsoft recruiter today. pic.twitter.com/90Qwr78eGO
— Patrick Burtchaell (@pburtchaell) July 6, 2016
The invitation found its way to social media and went viral, and as you might imagine it was thoroughly ridiculed with snarky comments and some hilarious memes.
@pburtchaell pic.twitter.com/m5Lx7F5fVR
— Ben Philippe (@GoHomeBen) July 6, 2016
A spokesperson for Microsoft apologized for the lame attempt to identify with a younger audience, admitting that "the email was poorly worded and not in keeping with our values as a company. We are looking into how this occurred and will take appropriate steps to address it."
Microsoft hasn't had the best of luck trying to stay hip to the times. Just last March, it let loose a teen chatbot named Tay on Twitter. Within hours of going online, the Twitterverse had transformed Tay from a innocent chatbot into a hate spewing, racist personality that had to be dragged offline.
"Looking ahead, we face some difficult – and yet exciting – research challenges in AI design. AI systems feed off of both positive and negative interactions with people. In that sense, the challenges are just as much social as they are technical," Microsoft said at the time.
It seems as though those social challenges extend beyond Microsoft's AI efforts.
Microsoft hasn't had the best of luck trying to stay hip to the times. Just last March, it let loose a teen chatbot named Tay on Twitter. Within hours of going online, the Twitterverse had transformed Tay from a innocent chatbot into a hate spewing, racist personality that had to be dragged offline.
"Looking ahead, we face some difficult – and yet exciting – research challenges in AI design. AI systems feed off of both positive and negative interactions with people. In that sense, the challenges are just as much social as they are technical," Microsoft said at the time.
It seems as though those social challenges extend beyond Microsoft's AI efforts.
