Emily Turnage
Gamification of Social Media
In this blog post, I’d like to discuss a phenomenon detailed in this article published on BBC News - specifically, the phenomenon of sexism permeating the world of artificial intelligence. Of course, with the likes of Cortana and Alexa and Siri growing more and more commonplace, it has become natural to think of chatbots as feminine creations. This phenomenon, the article details, is concerning because of the implications that chatbots - a service, a robot devoid of gender designed to serve, to obey the user’s commands - are inherently feminine. It’s true that sexism still abides in the tech industry, with the BBC article estimating 30% of the technology workforce being women. But why is this a problem? Why is the apparent willing absence of women in the industry a bad thing for AI?
For one, it follows that prejudices from the creators of said chatbots could work their way into the chatbots themselves; the idealization of a demure, feminine servant is problematic, as previously stated, and is the result of a default way of thinking that men have grown accustomed to. While not consciously a choice made because “women deserve to be servants”, it’s the normalization of this subconscious line of thought that is concerning. Without women - or, indeed, more progressive men - in the workforce combatting this line of thought, sexualized “fembots” as the BBC article puts it, could become more and more mainstream. For another, the absence of women in the industry can further demoralize women looking to get into the industry. It really says something to be able to look at a company and see representation of yourself within it; this is why movements to bring more people of color and women into the tech workforce have begun in recent years - because for years, it has been a primarily white, male dominated field. But when a company puts out a demure, feminine chatbot made primarily by men, it can be demoralizing for a potential female applicant; if, however subconsciously, that’s the ideal woman, then what place does she have? So what should be done about it? It’s not as easy as simply putting more women into the workforce - though a good goal to have regardless, it’s not the be-all end-all solution to the sexism that pervades the field of artificial intelligence. Rather, it’s changing the perception of chatbots to something less human that will, perhaps, solve some of the issue. It’s our job, as designers and developers, to ensure our biases (viewing chatbots as inherently feminine, for example) don’t influence the products we make - and that begins, in this case, with our perceptions of chatbots as a whole. By removing the human, gendered component - a gender neutral voice, with no name other than perhaps the device name - a chatbot could be exactly that. Just a chatbot with a purpose to assist in tasks, no feminization required. And, according to the article, some already have; one financial bot in particular, does not have a gendered voice, and is quick to divert playful or sexual banter back to the focus of the bot, rather than the perhaps “playful” responses from more well-known bots.
2 Comments
4/27/2017 03:33:36 pm
Emily, a well written article. First, I would like to acknowledge that I am a male with a subconscious bias, so I am trying to think as objectively as possible.
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Lesly Garcia
5/8/2017 12:44:51 pm
I think you make a great point about AI being created with the prejudice of the men who are creating it. I think it’s extremely important to have more women’s input on the subject and the creation of AI. Even if it is not from a technology standpoint but just to have women listen in and have a voice when they are created can make a huge difference in the product.
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AuthorI am a senior studying Communication Design, with an emphasis in Game Design. I like playing video games, writing, and yelling too loudly about things I care about. Archives
May 2017
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