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posted by martyb on Sunday May 26 2019, @05:25PM   Printer-friendly
from the voices-carry dept.

United Nations: Siri and Alexa Are Encouraging Misogyny

We already knew humans could make biased AIs — but the United Nations says the reverse is true as well.

Millions of people talk to AI voice assistants, such as Apple's Siri and Amazon's Alexa. When those assistants talk back, they do so in female-sounding voices, and a new UN report argues that those voices and the words they're programmed to say amplify gender biases and encourage users to be sexist — but it's not too late to change course.

The report is the work of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), and its title — "I'd blush if I could" — is the response Siri was programmed in 2011 to give if a user called her a "bitch."

[...] "It is a 'Me Too' moment," Saniye Gülser Corat, Director of UNESCO's Division for Gender Equality, told CBS News. "We have to make sure that the AI we produce and that we use does pay attention to gender equality."

Also at CNET.

[Back in 2013 in Germany, Siri's voice could be selected as either male or female.

Possibly one of the earliest and best-known "computer voices" was that of Majel Barrett from ST:TOS, although a case could be made for HAL 9000 from 2001: A Space Odyssey. --Ed.]


Original Submission

 
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  • (Score: 2) by Gaaark on Sunday May 26 2019, @08:48PM (3 children)

    by Gaaark (41) on Sunday May 26 2019, @08:48PM (#847983) Journal

    Lets you choose the voice and the 'Wake word'.
    I call mine Kaylee (Firefly).

    --
    --- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
    Starting Score:    1  point
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    Total Score:   2  
  • (Score: 2) by Pslytely Psycho on Sunday May 26 2019, @10:33PM (2 children)

    by Pslytely Psycho (1218) on Sunday May 26 2019, @10:33PM (#848015)

    Hmmm, we need an "Oh yeah BABY!" mod......

    Ah shit, that's either sexist, misogynistic, racist or anti-semantic..maybe all of the above...who fuckin' knows anymore....
    Fuck it, I'm old, I don't care.

    Kaylee for the win!

    --
    Alex Jones lawyer inspires new TV series: CSI Moron Division.
    • (Score: 3, Funny) by hemocyanin on Sunday May 26 2019, @11:02PM (1 child)

      by hemocyanin (186) on Sunday May 26 2019, @11:02PM (#848028) Journal

      Anti-semantic? Are you pro-nonsense?

      • (Score: 2) by Pslytely Psycho on Monday May 27 2019, @03:52AM

        by Pslytely Psycho (1218) on Monday May 27 2019, @03:52AM (#848091)

        Not at all. But the world we live in.....well.....that's another side to a three sided coin...

        --
        Alex Jones lawyer inspires new TV series: CSI Moron Division.