Alexa, is £860,000 to see if you’re sexist a ridiculous waste of money?
THEY give you information, organise your schedule and play your favourite music… but digital assistants such as Alexa and Siri might also be reinforcing sexist stereotypes.
Now a staggering £860,000 of taxpayers’ money is being thrown at the supposed problem in an effort to make the gadgets ‘more inclusive’.
Tech quango UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) has funded three projects to ‘reduce the gender bias’ of the devices after academics claimed their voices are mainly modelled as ‘young, submissive women’, which ‘bears the risk of reinforcing gender stereotypes’.
It has previously been claimed that using female voices in the gizmos is based on the sexist idea that we prefer to tell women what to do, rather than men. One report claimed it subtly sends the message that women are ‘obliging, docile and eager-to-please helpers’ doing mundane tasks.
The UKRI has just revealed it has given a £249,000 grant to the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow to investigate the issues – on top of £462,000 and £151,000 previously awarded to two other ongoing projects.
John O’Connell, chief executive of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: ‘These grants have funded far too many farcical projects during the pandemic, when public spending swelled. Taxpayers expect money to go towards ground-breaking developments and innovative technologies, not be wasted on ridiculous right-on research.’
The UKRI said grants were awarded after a ‘highly competitive’ process involving a ‘rigorous peer-review process’ from business and academia.
Amazon has previously said it used a female voice for Alexa as it was found to be ‘more sympathetic’. Siri users can make its voice female or male.