Making smart devices gender neutral won t undo their deep-seated sexism

Get the Full StoryThe smart assistants sold by big tech companies have a sexism problem. Their names and voices are default female, their answers to questions have sometimes excluded information that s relevant to women, and especially in the early days they answered provocative or abusive queries with cheeky responses like I d blush if I could.

Companies have addressed these criticisms including from the U.N. in some ways: You can make Siri s voice male, and Alexa now shuts down sexually suggestive or harassing queries with answers like I m not going to respond to that ; previously, Alexa said Thank you. Read more...More about Social Good, Gender Equality, Sexism, Smart Assistants, and Social Good

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