The report borrows its title — “I’d Blush if I Could” — from a standard response from Siri, the Apple voice assistant, when a user hurled a gendered expletive at it. Amazon’s Alexa, named for the ancient library of Alexandria, is unmistakably female. character in the Halo video game franchise that projects itself as a sensuous, unclothed woman. These assistants are putting a stamp on society as they become common in homes across the world, and can influence interactions with real women, the report warns. As the report puts it, “The more that culture teaches people to equate women with assistants, the more real women will be seen as assistants — and penalized for not being assistant-like.”

Source: New York Times May 22, 2019 15:27 UTC