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"The real question is -- why are A.I. assistants conflated with women? I think you know the answer." Whats the answer? The creators prefer a woman's voice? Se
by SBCRec 9y ago
"The real question is -- why are A.I. assistants conflated with women? I think you know the answer."
Whats the answer?
The creators prefer a woman's voice? Sexism? Variance?
- fratlas 9y agoSexism: Siri's secretary-like, menial role is still marketed with a woman's voice.
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]
- pvinis 9y agoAnother, better reason, at least for me, is that when you have to talk to an assistant/receptionist/phone-whatever, it's always more pleasant to hear a woman's voice.
- wahnfrieden 9y agoUnpack another layer or two - why do you interpret that to be more pleasant. It may be more socialized than you think at first glance. That's the problem with "for me"isms: you're just expressing climatized bias.
- nilkn 9y agoAs a straight male, my answer is dead simple: female voices are attractive, pleasant, and comforting to me in large part because I experience romantic attraction exclusively towards women. I can't speak for non-heterosexual men or for women on this question though.
- dTal 9y agoHow confident are you of this introspection? Might it not rather be (for example) that female voices are evocative of motherhood? Speaking for myself, while I would prefer a high-pitched voice for a digital assistant (male or female - Data sounds friendlier than HAL, for instance), I would prefer it not to be sexualised. Can't say for sure until I've tried it, but I think it would be disturbing if a computer attempted to flirt with me.
- fratlas 9y agoI actually would agree with that, I'm just answering why it might be construed as a problem. Women's voices are also clearer in high noise environments.
- jessaustin 9y agoWomen's voices are often harder to understand for those who have lost sensitivity to high octaves. That is a typical pattern of hearing loss for older people, both women and men. Of course the ridiculous fashion in which some people choose to speak exacerbates this, but it would be a mistake to assume that such people aren't hired to answer phones.
- anonemouse145 9y agoIt's biology. A female/mother is more comforting, for blatantly obvious reasons that seem silly to have to explain to people. But no, you're right it's more plausible that it's... (dramatic music plays) the global patriarchal conspiracy (Doctor Evil gesture).
- sago 9y agoAn observation, not a disagreement: While P.A.s are stereotypically female in culture (e.g. Most often in films, novels, TV shows). 'High-value' assistants in several cultural contexts are usually portrayed as male: maitre d's, butlers, concierges.
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]
- telesilla 9y agoCultural expectations in the real world. Wired:why are voice interfaces female https://www.wired.com/2015/10/why-siri-cortana-voice-interfaces-sound-female-sexism/ https://www.wired.com/2015/10/why-siri-cortana-voice-interfa...
- SBCRec 9y agoThanks for the link! I probably should have just googled it.
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]
- tjalfi 9y agoHere are the two studies that are quoted by most of the articles on this topic. The first is Does social desirability bias favor humans? Explicit–implicit evaluations of synthesized speech support a new HCI model of impression management[0]. This study found that both men and women interpret female voices as warmer. The second is Are Computers Gender-Neutral? Gender Stereotypic Responses to Computers[1]. This study found that male voices are preferred when discussing computers and female voices are preferred when discussing relationships. [0] http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.669.3781&rep=rep1&type=pdf http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.669... [1] http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.536.7047&rep=rep1&type=pdf http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.536...
- scottlocklin 9y agoThe warning voice in the B-58 hustler was made female because studies found fighter pilots pay more attention to female voices under stressful situations. There is an obvious "lol" reason for this, but the reality might just be the human ear can hear female pitched voices better when there are distracting noises. Deep voices are often difficult to hear.
- kens 9y agoA related issue is the voice used in aircraft warning systems. Different aircraft use a male voice (Boeing, Airbus) or female voice (McDonnell Douglas). There's various contradictory research on whether a male or female voice is better. For a long discussion, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bitching_Betty https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bitching_Betty