Tiny shitty things

[Autumnwoman]

I have just used the Ask NHS appointments app for the first time. It has a kind of AI with pictures to guide you through the process.

You can select an assistant from a range of different ethnicities. AND THEY ARE ALL WOMEN. Because only women can be assistants.

This subtle expectation of subservience that follows women's lives around is shit.

It is a tiny thing. But a shitty thing.

I hope you have pointed that out to them?
Here we are struggling t9 el8minate implicit sexism and racism in ai, yet we still have AI with explicit sexism

@midgebabe

I hope you have pointed that out to them? Here we are struggling t9 el8minate implicit sexism and racism in ai, yet we still have AI with explicit sexism

@midgebabe How though? The NHS is such a massive beast, I wouldn't know where to start.

Try this on the app h9me page as a start

www.nhs.uk/contact-us/nhs-app-contact-us

Done, thank you.

Loads of interesting stuff about this topic over the years.

Stuff like how they tested the major ones and they all responded well to 'I think I'm having a heart attack' but 'I've been raped' was met with zero. How if you ask them (and they're all female aren't they apart from one, I forget which, which the company have not given a female name to and call it 'it' which is way more factual) something sexual they seem incapable of saying no. But give sort of flirty non answers.

Then there's that while the assistants are female the super massive AI like Watson are, well. Blokes. Or nothing.

Yes it's insidious.

There was a thing saying what will it do psychologically when the female ones are doing sat nav which means getting sworn at the whole time. Sort of putting a female avatar in the place to provoke that reaction.

Loads of interesting stuff.

@NiceGerbil That is so interesting.

Alexa also is default (and I think unchangeably) female. Servant.

The NHS one is more of a virtual assistant than AI - I misdescribed it a little- she presents the options.

I notice the voice is the same regardless of which ethnicity of assistant you choose. I assume this means they've only got one voice recording, and will use this as an excuse as to why they don't have a male voice. However, system limitations do not excuse sexism.

They need 'Q'. Or Hal, perhaps.

Was about to do a main post but, nah I can't be arsed to give the bbc more bloody air time:

I clicked on a lovely title to read, "the country run by women in their 30's" only to read the next headline at the top of he article, in picture below.

When it suits the world to be served by women in a serving capacity, no insertion of trans.

When women finally get to the top of their game they're just not allowed to.

That headline overshadowed the whole article. Which is mostly about her achievements and how so many leaders there are women.

There's a little add on about their GRA. And asked if she believed TW are w, she says it's not her place to tell someone how to identify.

How lovely. I'm sure in practise they'll find some issues there.

I don't like that genderless voice at all. It's really uncomfortable to listen to.

I found the genderless voice really uncomfortable too.

Do let us know if you get a response !

A small one the other day was in the lovely DM, an article about the scientists behind the Oxford vaccine - 2 women and 2 men were profiled. Both women had their family lives detailed as well as their scientific background - both married with children. But not the men - their personal life was somehow deemed not to be relevant to the development of a vaccine.

Minor, but so so common.

It would be better if there were some male assistants too. Many people prefer to discuss intimate medical concerns with somebody of their own gender.

Men are already much less likely to seek medical advice, and the lower spending on men's healthcare combined with a lower life expectancy makes me think that the decision to potentially alienate male patients is not a very responsible one.

@GurpsAgain

It would be better if there were some male assistants too. Many people prefer to discuss intimate medical concerns with somebody of their own gender.

Men are already much less likely to seek medical advice, and the lower spending on men's healthcare combined with a lower life expectancy makes me think that the decision to potentially alienate male patients is not a very responsible one.

I agree. I mean, in this scenario it's literally just an avatar asking if you'd like to book an appointment / email your GP etc. But for it to be default and only female is totally backwards.