Am I sexist, Siri?
Source: Ivan Bandura on Unsplash
Amazon's Alexa and Apple's Siri fuel stereotype that women are "subservient" - UN report
The report notes that the inability for female-voiced assistants to respond to insults can highlight female "powerlessness".
Artificial intelligence voice assistants, such as Amazon's Alexa and Apple's Siri, are perpetuating and spreading gender stereotypes, says a new UN report.Titled "I'd blush if I could", the report from UNESCO says the almost exclusive market of female voice assistants fuels stereotypes that women are "obliging, docile and eager-to-please helpers".
And with assistants responding to requests no matter the manner in which they are asked, this also reinforces the idea in some communities that women are "subservient and tolerant of poor treatment".
Canalys, a technology research company, has estimated that 100 million "smart speakers", which are used to interact with voice assistants, were sold in 2018.
According to the UNESCO report, technology giants such as Amazon and Apple have in the past said consumers prefer female voices for their assistants, with an Amazon spokesperson recently attributing these voices with more "sympathetic and pleasant" traits.
However, further research has shown that preferences are a little more complex - people have been found to like specific masculine tones when listening to authority, but prefer female tones when in a helpful context.
In general, most people prefer the sound of the opposite sex, the report said.
The report specifically notes that the inability for some female-voiced digital assistants to defend themselves from hostile and sexist insults "may highlight her powerlessness".
In fact, some companies with majority male engineering teams have programmed the assistants to "greet verbal abuse with catch-me-if-you-can flirtation," the report said.
Some cases even found assistants "thanking users for sexual harassment", and that sexual advances from male users were tolerated more than from female users.
Citing a Quartz piece specifically focusing on Siri, it found the assistant would respond "provocatively to sexual favours" from male users, using phrases such as: "I'd blush if I could" and "Oooh!", but would be less so towards women.
The report added that such programming "projects a digitally encrypted 'boys will be boys' attitude" that "may help biases to take hold and spread".
To tackle the issue, the UN has argued in favour of technology companies adopting more non-human and gender-neutral voices, pointing to the robotic voice used by Stephen Hawking as an example.
"As intelligent digital assistants become ubiquitous, a machine gender might help separate technologies from notions of gender ascribed to humans, and help children and others avoid anthropomorphising them," the report said.
Comments
First of all, I wonder who is Alexa and who is Siri. If the title of this report is “Am I sexist, Siri?”, I suppose that Siri is a woman. Then Alexa will be a man, won´t he? Women can´t be sexist, okay? Only men can be sexist, okay? I can´t listen the voice of Alexa and Siri because it doesn´t appear in the Sky News.
In the second place, I want to make clear that I don´t hope to take lightly with this important matter of sexism. I know that you and I aren´t sexist. This UNESCO report desires that people were aware of masculine sexist in the world and, after it, they tackle this issue. UNESCO uses technology companies, such as Amazon and Apple, to fight against to sexism and to defend women from hostile and insult sexist. I agree that everyone must tackle sexist. This behaviour would prove the level of respect and the level of culture of this society.
The report said that people prefer the sound of the opposite sex, I think is normal, me too, but I like funny that people prefer masculine tones when listening to authority and they prefer female tones when in a helpful context. Freud would say that they symbolise the father and the mother.
They want to artificial intelligence voice assistants help to eliminate gender stereotypes that women are obliging, docile and earger-to-please. 100 million “smart speakers” were sold in 2018, which proves that it is interesting. Some female-voiced digital assistants can avoid male engineering programs activities which can blush women. Companies should use gender-neutral voices.
See you.
I think Siri and Alexa have been around for quite a while. I had never heard of them until a few weeks ago in class. You can ask them all sorts of questions.
I don't get why the UN, of all organisations, has to investigate these voice assistants.
I am sure the same ones who have a problem with them now, would have complained loudly if they had a male voice.
First of all, I wonder who Alexa is and who Siri is (indirect statements). If the title of this report is “Am I sexist, Siri?”, I suppose that Siri is a woman (acutally, that's the title I gave the post). Then Alexa will be a man, won´t he? Women can´t be sexist, okay? Only men can be sexist, okay? I can´t hear the voice of Alexa and Siri because it doesn´t appear on Sky News.
Secondly, I want to make clear that I don´t wish to take this important matter of sexism lightly. I know that you and I aren´t sexist. This UNESCO report wants to make people aware of male chauvinism in the world and then,tackle this issue. UNESCO uses technology companies, such as Amazon and Apple, to fight against sexism and defend women from hostile and sexist insults. I agree that everyone must tackle sexism. This behaviour demonstrates the level of respect and the level of culture of this society.
The report said that people prefer the sound of the opposite sex. I think it is normal, for me too, but I find it funny that people prefer masculine tones when listening to authority and they prefer female tones in a helpful context. Freud would say that they symbolise the father and the mother.
They want artificial intelligence voice assistants' help to eliminate gender stereotypes that women are obliging, docile and eager-to-please. 100 million “smart speakers” were sold in 2018, which proves that it is intersting. Some female-voiced digital assistants can avoid male engineering programs activities which can make women blush. Companies should use gender-neutral voices.