SIRI/SIR ALEXA/ALEX

“Siri and Alexa Reinforce Gender Bias, U.N. Finds”

by Megan Specia for The New York Times

Why do most virtual assistants that are powered by artificial intelligence — like Apple’s Siri and Amazon’s Alexa system — by default have female names, female voices and often a submissive or even flirtatious style?

The problem, according to a new report released this week by Unesco, stems from a lack of diversity within the industry that is reinforcing problematic gender stereotypes. MORE