Applesa国际传媒檚 Siri can prattle off the height of celebrities at the drop of a hat. Amazonsa国际传媒檚 Alexa can order a fresh batch of toilet paper to your door. Googlesa国际传媒檚 Assistant can help tune your guitar, while Microsoftsa国际传媒檚 Cortana does impressions on request.

Just say the word, and these digital assistants will respond to your queries with synthetic pep and nary a hint of complaint. But ask any of the devices about their gender and they seem to demur.

Pose the question to Siri, Cortana or Assistant, and each will insist they transcend such human constructs. Alexa replies, sa国际传媒淚sa国际传媒檓 female in character.sa国际传媒�

But all of these artificially intelligent aides will answer in a womansa国际传媒檚 voice, at least according to their default settings for Canadian users.

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Critics argue this chorus of fembots reinforces stereotypes about women being servile, while members of the tech industry insist theysa国际传媒檙e simply catering to consumers.

Jodie Wallis, managing director of consulting firm Accenturesa国际传媒檚 Canadian AI department, says theresa国际传媒檚 truth to both sides of the debate sa国际传媒� sexist attitudes may be at play, but developers shouldnsa国际传媒檛 be held responsible for societysa国际传媒檚 views.

sa国际传媒淚t absolutely reinforces stereotypes, but itsa国际传媒檚 reinforcing those stereotypes based on research done on what we respond well to,sa国际传媒� said Wallis.

A Microsoft spokeswoman said the company thought sa国际传媒渓ong and hardsa国际传媒� about gender and did extensive research about voice in crafting Cortanasa国际传媒檚 sa国际传媒減ersonality.sa国际传媒�

Microsoft concluded there were sa国际传媒渂enefits and trade-offs to either gender-oriented position,sa国际传媒� but found there is a sa国际传媒渃ertain warmthsa国际传媒� to the female voice thatsa国际传媒檚 associated with helpfulness sa国际传媒� a quality the company wanted in its product, according the spokeswoman.

Representatives for Amazon and Google did not respond to email inquiries about how gender factored into product development, while an Apple spokeswoman declined to comment.

Researchers at Indiana University found both men and women said they preferred female computerized voices, which they rated as sa国际传媒渨armersa国际传媒� than male machine-generated speech, according to a 2011 study.

But late co-author Clifford Nass suggested in the 2005 book sa国际传媒淲ired for Speechsa国际传媒� that these gender-based preferences can change depending on a machinesa国际传媒檚 function. Male voice interfaces are more likely to command authority, he wrote, while their female counterparts tend to be perceived as more sensitive.

While Alexa and Cortana only offer female voices, male options were added to Assistant and Siri after their initial rollouts. For some languages and dialects, Sirisa国际传媒檚 voice defaults to male, including Arabic, British English and French.

Ramona Pringle, a Ryerson University professor who studies the relationship between humans and technology, acknowledged these developments seem promising, but said if companies are passing the buck onto their customers, then they should be able to select the voice during setup.

sa国际传媒淭he tech industry often does put the onus back on users, whereas itsa国际传媒檚 not up to an individual user to bring about this kind of change,sa国际传媒� said Pringle. sa国际传媒淭he way that we perpetuate any stereotype is by saying, sa国际传媒楾hatsa国际传媒檚 what people expect.sa国际传媒檚a国际传媒�

Pringle said theresa国际传媒檚 a sa国际传媒渃lear power dynamicsa国际传媒� between users and digital assistants, with the female-voiced devices being placed in a subservient role, perpetuating stereotypes that women should be sa国际传媒渄ocile and doing our bidding at our beck and call.sa国际传媒�

This form of digital sexism that may seem innocuous, but could become more insidious as AI develops, Pringle warned.

If wesa国际传媒檙e conditioned to hurl commands or even verbal abuse at female-coded devices, then as robots become more human-like, the risk is women will be dehumanized, she said.

sa国际传媒淚tsa国际传媒檚 almost a step backwards, because it changes the way we engage,sa国际传媒� said Pringle.

sa国际传媒淚tsa国际传媒檚 very concerning, because theresa国际传媒檚 no reason sa国际传媒� for (these devices) being gendered the way that they are.sa国际传媒�

Adina Bresge, The Canadian Press

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