The report, titled “I’d blush if I could” — Siri’s response to provocative queries or flirtatious statements — says the female helpers are often depicted as “obliging and eager to please,” which reinforces the idea that women are “subservient.” Worse, it states, is the way in which they give “deflecting, lacklustre, or apologetic responses” to abuse or criticism. In the US, more than 90 million adults use smartphone assistants monthly, while 77 million access them from their car, and 45 million use them on smart speakers, according to a survey from Voicebot.ai. In many communities, this reinforces commonly held gender biases that women are subservient and tolerant of poor treatment. While their usage spans genders, those creating smart assistants are overwhelmingly male. The report calls on technology companies to stop making voice assistants female by default, though it stops short of recommending we do away with them entirely. Current voice assistants give users some element of control here, allowing them to change voices, accents, or genders, but they all default to a female voice.
