Today in "antiblackness has literally touched every corner of the earth," one Chinese app is under fire after its software used the N-word as an English translation for the Chinese for "black foreigner."

According to Sixth Tone, a Chinese focused news site, the company blamed its algorithms for producing the error.

The issue was called out by Ann James, a black American living in Shanghai. She spotted it when she texted her Chinese colleagues to say she was running late. James uses the app as a way to translate  Chinese responses, so imagine her surprise when she gets the response:

 "The [n-word] is late." 

When she checked the Chinese phrase "hei laowai" with a co-worker, she was told it was a neutral expression, not a profanity.

The app's software uses artificial intelligence that has been fed huge reams of text to help it pick the best translations. These are based on context, so it sometimes uses insulting phrases when talking about negative events.

That's Shanghai tested the app and found that when used to wish someone happy birthday, the phrase "hei laowai" was translated as "black foreigner". But when a sentence included negative words like "late" or "lazy," it produced the racist insult.

WeChat has since acknowledged the error and apologized: "We're very sorry for the inappropriate translation. After receiving users' feedback, we immediately fixed the problem."

That's nice and all,  but the real question here is why is the word even in the translator? 

“I know there’s a lot of curiosity and a lot of ignorance about black people [in China],” said James, who was quick to emphasize that she loves the country she’s called home for five years. “I just think that we need to have more open discussions between Chinese people and black people.”