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Bernardo de La Paz

(48,925 posts)
2. People, please: people are "who", NOT "that". We say "thing that does", "person who does"
Wed May 24, 2023, 06:34 AM
May 2023

Not singling anyone out, but so many people get upset at the objectification of other people or themselves, and then "person that" like a thing instead of using "who".

We never say "the thing who does something".

Likewise, they objectify people when they say "the waiter serviced the couple at the table". Things are "serviced", people are "served".

I think there is an unfortunate association in people's minds of "serving" with slavery and servitude. Get over it. Also, we do with some justification say things like "the sex worker serviced their client" because it is impersonal compared to a committed loving relationship.

Cars are serviced.
People are served.

A person who writes carefully.
An AI that writes negligently.

We can be better than a sloppy AI and we shouldn't treat people like AIs.

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