Female-voiced, subservient, Siri and Alexa damaging

[Doyoumind]

Article from BBC:
www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-48349102

AI-powered voice assistants with female voices are perpetuating harmful gender biases, according to a UN study.

Sorry. Clicky www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-48349102

You just know that men will sexually harass Siri.

I never actually thought about this. I'm a bit cross at myself. A fish in water and all that. I'm glad the UN study has raised my consciousness about it. Thanks OP.

Yes Erythronium

I've got Siri as male - but I do find him annoying more than helpful. There's a few different voices you can choose - all as irritating as the next in my opinion.

When I hear a female voice from a device I think of the computer on Star Trek, the next generation - who is voiced by Majel Barrett-Roddenberry - who of course is also Lwaxana Troi - a character I adore for her strength, charm, care, cunning and irrepressible nature - so my personal biases run the other way - but then I was an odd child who wrote little commands on my computer so rather than commanding it to do things, I would ask (including saying please) and it would randomly say things back just to seem more friendly.

Any excuse to play this:

I kind of agree, but then I think if male was the default many of us would be complaining about the lack of female voices, so I can't feel too strongly either way.

I have tried the male Siri voices, and I don't like them. I find generally I prefer a lower pitched voice, either in the male or female register. Female voice Siri is lower pitched, but male-voice Siri could be in a boy band.

I have mine set to Female, except when I want directions and need the right answer.

I remember a conversation about this at University (in the Dark Ages). The starting point was 'female computer voices subert sexist sterotypes abput women and knowledge' (in specific relation to Star Trek's computer voice). The end point was, is this not just what it is like to be a male? Surrounded by amazingly knowledgeable , and almost all-ppowerful females who are (a) nevertheless subservient and (b)not deemed capable of specifically higher human reasoning

My Siri is set as Male Australian - always makes me smile.
The satnav in the car has a voice which I hear as male and DH hears as female (or vice versa, I can't recall)