4 ms·

Someday, someone will buck the trend of naming their voice assistant with a woman's name. Sadly, today is not that day.

by Pfhreak 9y ago

namlem 9y ago
I'm more bothered by the fact that the name is three syllables. Ain't nobody got time for that.
- d2p 9y ago
  Maybe deliberate to reduce false activations? Even with three, our Echo Dot triggers many times per day when nobody is talking to "her"!
ihuman 9y ago
What's wrong with the trend?
- Pfhreak 9y ago
  The use of (nearly exclusively?) women's names and voices for servant roles? It continues a stereotype that I believe is problematic.
  - sekhat 9y ago
    A woman's voice is not used due to it being a "servent". A woman's voice is used, because testing has shown both men and women respond positively to women's voices, while the same is not true of men's voices. Of course, along with a women's voice, it makes sense to go along with a woman's name.
    - haldean 9y ago
      It can have a female voice without it having a woman's name; the "Google Assistant" is a good example. It's extremely off-putting that the only software we give human names to is the software we boss around, and when we do give it a name, the name is always female.
      - Medaber 9y ago
        Yawn. Stop trying these make this another Donglegate.
      - nathanasmith 9y ago
        > It's extremely off-putting that the only software we give human names to is the software we boss around, and when we do give it a name, the name is always female. That's not true though. Just a cursory glance at the Play Store with the search term "voice assistant"[0] reveals mostly gender neutral with some male and female. I "equalled" the female names and plussed the male names: Dragon Mobile Assistant; =Cortana – Digital assistant; Indigo Virtual Assistant; Smart Voice Assistant; OK Google; =Robin - AI Voice Assistant; DataBot Assistant; =EVA Free - Voice Assistant; utter! Voice Commands BETA!; voice Assistant; +Jarvis - My Personal Assistant; Google Allo; Extreme: Personal Assistant; =AIVC (Alice); HOUND Voice Search & Assistant; Google Now Launcher; Genie; =Amazon Alexa; My Assistant; Heaveen; +SpeakBro; +ANDY Voice Assistant (FREE); Cyman Mark 2 Free; +Noah Voice Assistant Beta; My Android Assistant; AVX Free - Voice Assistant; Moto Voice; +EVAN Free - Voice Assistant; Voice Assistant; Get Assistant - Root Tally: 5 female and 5 male with 20 gender neutral including some arguable, e.g., "Cyman" (Simon?) and Robin. This isn't the most scientific thing but it certainly exposes the assertion "the name is always female" for what it is. The really unfortunate thing is this erroneous belief is so ingrained that half the comments here are bike shedding about this exact point instead of discussing how cool this piece of software is. Not that I'm helping that problem. [0]https://play.google.com/store/apps/collection/search_results_cluster_apps?clp=ggERCg92b2ljZSBhc3Npc3RhbnQ%3D%3AS%3AANO1ljJOnq8&hl=en https://play.google.com/store/apps/collection/search_results...
      - AOsborn 9y ago
        > It can have a female voice without it having a woman's name; Sure, you can use an unrelated word. There are many startups with silly names and that has not stopped them. But if the creator decides to choose the name of a person, (perhaps to give their project a little humanity, or for whatever reason - it doesn't matter), and they are using a female voice, let us not pretend that a female name is not simply logical.
      - microcolonel 9y ago
    - tajen 9y ago
      I wonder whether people whould have enjoyed different kinds of male / androgynous voices. Soft voice? Energetic coffee-powered male voice to make us feel like businessmen during an MBA? Effeminate male voice because it would trigger sympathy? Masculine female voice because it mixes styles? Aged-man voice because it evokes wisdom? Grand-mother voice because it evokes good tips for life? Celebrity voices? I concur that the initial female voice of Siri, Alexa and Cortana reminded me that all assistants shouldn't be women, and I believe future ones will match people's preference, so the only voices that will be universal will be those 3 voices, female and young.
      - qznc 9y ago
        How about an uptight british butler voice (Cogsworth from Disney's Beauty and the Beast) or the lovable lackey of evil voice (Pain and Panic from Disney's Hercules)? There are plenty of male servant cliches: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ServantTropes http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ServantTropes
        iuguy 9y ago
        In the UK, Siri has a male voice with a posh English accent.
  - notgood 9y ago
    And if everyone did males voices only you would say women are being excluded as assistants; really there is no way to please feminism; wrong if you do, wrong if you don't.
  - _jtrig 9y ago
    There are also a lot of "evil" male robots in popular culture.
- epse 9y ago
  Also, if Stephanie is a hot word and someone called Stephanie comes by...
nerdponx 9y ago
To be fair, Siri is androgynous enough and could be given a man's voice by default.
- peteretep 9y ago
  I gave Siri a male voice right out of the bag, and keep forgetting other people have female Siris. Having Butler Siri feels classy...
- lucaspiller 9y ago
  In the UK, Siri has a male voice by default.
deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
rexpop 9y ago
elliot.ai
nathanasmith 9y ago
Let me rephrase my suggestion for what to do here. Seems in the config.ini file, there is a setting for what you want the assistant's name to be: [SYSTEM] assistant_name = Stephanie welcome_message = How may I help you? wake_up_engine = False wake_up_command = Stephanie wake up I would presume you just replace Stephanie with whatever you want.
- lintroller 9y ago
  Personification of the assistant allows a more intimate experience for those not of the computer science inclination. Humans know how to talk to other humans, most are still too unfamiliar with speaking only to "a computer program at a data center somewhere" to get any real use out of it. Anecdotal, but I have an aunt who hates computers but loves the Echo because of Alexa. By giving the assistant a name and speaking to it conversationally, she was able to "trust" it much faster than many other technologies.
  - nathanasmith 9y ago
    >Personification of the assistant allows a more intimate experience for those not of the computer science inclination. Fair enough. Yeah, I'm pretty sure I don't want anything I do with my phone to be described as an "intimate experience". Takes all kinds.
bruxis 9y ago
Yeah, I really don't want a voice assistant with the name of an ex.
- PleaseHelpMe 9y ago
  Seriously? Then you should try Google since I believe no girl has OK GOOGLE name
  - tachyonbeam 9y ago
    But imagine the people who had the Google voice actress as an ex :O Dating profile: I know this is a bit odd, but I can only date you if you're an iPhone user.
    - deleted 9y ago
      [deleted]
    - deleted 9y ago
      [deleted]
    - SwellJoe 9y ago
      I dated the woman who did the voice for Google Voice (the voicemail service). She moved out to CA with me when my company got accepted to YC and she got a job at Google. I dunno exactly how she ended up doing the voice for it, but it's always been vaguely surreal to hear her answering my phone (I use Google Voice, and last I listened she was still the voice ~9 years later). It's not that big of a deal, more of a weird anecdote (that I've very rarely had occasion to tell before now) than anything traumatic. Seems like a personal assistant voice would be kinda the same. Though maybe you hear it more often. But, it's probably not something that happens very often. I mean, how many personal assistant voices are there, and how many people can they have dated?
      - eloisant 9y ago
        Don't personal assistant use voice synthesis rather than voice acting?
amelius 9y ago
Also, don't use a common male/female name for a voice assistant the same way you don't use a common name for a dog. You don't want to be calling your assistant or pet and some nearby person looks up. PS: If you have a grudge against your neighbor, you could use their first name for your dog >:)
- gooseus 9y ago
  I agree, in fact, I think our AI deserve far less regard than pets or even our least favorite being (spiders and molds and such). I want to call my voice assistant robot "Assistant" or just say "Computer", like in Star Trek.

Someday, someone will buck the trend of naming their voice assistant with a woman's name. Sadly, today is not that day.

namlem 9y ago

I'm more bothered by the fact that the name is three syllables. Ain't nobody got time for that.

d2p 9y ago
Maybe deliberate to reduce false activations? Even with three, our Echo Dot triggers many times per day when nobody is talking to "her"!

ihuman 9y ago

What's wrong with the trend?

Pfhreak 9y ago
The use of (nearly exclusively?) women's names and voices for servant roles? It continues a stereotype that I believe is problematic.
- sekhat 9y ago
  A woman's voice is not used due to it being a "servent". A woman's voice is used, because testing has shown both men and women respond positively to women's voices, while the same is not true of men's voices. Of course, along with a women's voice, it makes sense to go along with a woman's name.
  - haldean 9y ago
    It can have a female voice without it having a woman's name; the "Google Assistant" is a good example. It's extremely off-putting that the only software we give human names to is the software we boss around, and when we do give it a name, the name is always female.
    - Medaber 9y ago
      Yawn. Stop trying these make this another Donglegate.
    - nathanasmith 9y ago
      > It's extremely off-putting that the only software we give human names to is the software we boss around, and when we do give it a name, the name is always female. That's not true though. Just a cursory glance at the Play Store with the search term "voice assistant"[0] reveals mostly gender neutral with some male and female. I "equalled" the female names and plussed the male names: Dragon Mobile Assistant; =Cortana – Digital assistant; Indigo Virtual Assistant; Smart Voice Assistant; OK Google; =Robin - AI Voice Assistant; DataBot Assistant; =EVA Free - Voice Assistant; utter! Voice Commands BETA!; voice Assistant; +Jarvis - My Personal Assistant; Google Allo; Extreme: Personal Assistant; =AIVC (Alice); HOUND Voice Search & Assistant; Google Now Launcher; Genie; =Amazon Alexa; My Assistant; Heaveen; +SpeakBro; +ANDY Voice Assistant (FREE); Cyman Mark 2 Free; +Noah Voice Assistant Beta; My Android Assistant; AVX Free - Voice Assistant; Moto Voice; +EVAN Free - Voice Assistant; Voice Assistant; Get Assistant - Root Tally: 5 female and 5 male with 20 gender neutral including some arguable, e.g., "Cyman" (Simon?) and Robin. This isn't the most scientific thing but it certainly exposes the assertion "the name is always female" for what it is. The really unfortunate thing is this erroneous belief is so ingrained that half the comments here are bike shedding about this exact point instead of discussing how cool this piece of software is. Not that I'm helping that problem. [0]https://play.google.com/store/apps/collection/search_results_cluster_apps?clp=ggERCg92b2ljZSBhc3Npc3RhbnQ%3D%3AS%3AANO1ljJOnq8&hl=en https://play.google.com/store/apps/collection/search_results...
    - AOsborn 9y ago
      > It can have a female voice without it having a woman's name; Sure, you can use an unrelated word. There are many startups with silly names and that has not stopped them. But if the creator decides to choose the name of a person, (perhaps to give their project a little humanity, or for whatever reason - it doesn't matter), and they are using a female voice, let us not pretend that a female name is not simply logical.
    - microcolonel 9y ago
  - tajen 9y ago
    I wonder whether people whould have enjoyed different kinds of male / androgynous voices. Soft voice? Energetic coffee-powered male voice to make us feel like businessmen during an MBA? Effeminate male voice because it would trigger sympathy? Masculine female voice because it mixes styles? Aged-man voice because it evokes wisdom? Grand-mother voice because it evokes good tips for life? Celebrity voices? I concur that the initial female voice of Siri, Alexa and Cortana reminded me that all assistants shouldn't be women, and I believe future ones will match people's preference, so the only voices that will be universal will be those 3 voices, female and young.
    - qznc 9y ago
      How about an uptight british butler voice (Cogsworth from Disney's Beauty and the Beast) or the lovable lackey of evil voice (Pain and Panic from Disney's Hercules)? There are plenty of male servant cliches: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ServantTropes http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ServantTropes
      - iuguy 9y ago
        In the UK, Siri has a male voice with a posh English accent.
- notgood 9y ago
  And if everyone did males voices only you would say women are being excluded as assistants; really there is no way to please feminism; wrong if you do, wrong if you don't.
- _jtrig 9y ago
  There are also a lot of "evil" male robots in popular culture.
epse 9y ago
Also, if Stephanie is a hot word and someone called Stephanie comes by...

nerdponx 9y ago

To be fair, Siri is androgynous enough and could be given a man's voice by default.

peteretep 9y ago
I gave Siri a male voice right out of the bag, and keep forgetting other people have female Siris. Having Butler Siri feels classy...
lucaspiller 9y ago
In the UK, Siri has a male voice by default.

deleted 9y ago

[deleted]

rexpop 9y ago

elliot.ai

nathanasmith 9y ago

Let me rephrase my suggestion for what to do here. Seems in the config.ini file, there is a setting for what you want the assistant's name to be: [SYSTEM] assistant_name = Stephanie welcome_message = How may I help you? wake_up_engine = False wake_up_command = Stephanie wake up I would presume you just replace Stephanie with whatever you want.

lintroller 9y ago
Personification of the assistant allows a more intimate experience for those not of the computer science inclination. Humans know how to talk to other humans, most are still too unfamiliar with speaking only to "a computer program at a data center somewhere" to get any real use out of it. Anecdotal, but I have an aunt who hates computers but loves the Echo because of Alexa. By giving the assistant a name and speaking to it conversationally, she was able to "trust" it much faster than many other technologies.
- nathanasmith 9y ago
  >Personification of the assistant allows a more intimate experience for those not of the computer science inclination. Fair enough. Yeah, I'm pretty sure I don't want anything I do with my phone to be described as an "intimate experience". Takes all kinds.

bruxis 9y ago

Yeah, I really don't want a voice assistant with the name of an ex.

PleaseHelpMe 9y ago
Seriously? Then you should try Google since I believe no girl has OK GOOGLE name
- tachyonbeam 9y ago
  But imagine the people who had the Google voice actress as an ex :O Dating profile: I know this is a bit odd, but I can only date you if you're an iPhone user.
  - deleted 9y ago
    [deleted]
  - deleted 9y ago
    [deleted]
  - SwellJoe 9y ago
    I dated the woman who did the voice for Google Voice (the voicemail service). She moved out to CA with me when my company got accepted to YC and she got a job at Google. I dunno exactly how she ended up doing the voice for it, but it's always been vaguely surreal to hear her answering my phone (I use Google Voice, and last I listened she was still the voice ~9 years later). It's not that big of a deal, more of a weird anecdote (that I've very rarely had occasion to tell before now) than anything traumatic. Seems like a personal assistant voice would be kinda the same. Though maybe you hear it more often. But, it's probably not something that happens very often. I mean, how many personal assistant voices are there, and how many people can they have dated?
    - eloisant 9y ago
      Don't personal assistant use voice synthesis rather than voice acting?

amelius 9y ago

Also, don't use a common male/female name for a voice assistant the same way you don't use a common name for a dog. You don't want to be calling your assistant or pet and some nearby person looks up. PS: If you have a grudge against your neighbor, you could use their first name for your dog >:)

gooseus 9y ago
I agree, in fact, I think our AI deserve far less regard than pets or even our least favorite being (spiders and molds and such). I want to call my voice assistant robot "Assistant" or just say "Computer", like in Star Trek.