[Tyler]

Why Do So Many Digital Assistants Have Feminine Names?
30 March 2016, 12:00 am

                    The whole point of having a digital assistant is to have it do stuff for you. You're supposed to boss it around.

The AtlanticLink

Source: AI in the News

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[DemonRaven]

Bottom line female voices are less threatening overall then male ones. Also many tend to think of men as being the ones more interested in technology so the makers produce things that would appeal to them.  I personally think the author of the article overthinks the reasons.

[Don Patrick]

Yup. He should have asked just about any developer or psychologist, and they would say female voices are generally considered more likable by everyone. Most virtual assistant developers have said so at one point or another in past interviews. My own A.I. has a male voice, but only because I don't have to market it to anyone.

It has an interesting point about bossing around female voices though. Might have consequences for our social biases, but it's hard to tell.

[Art]

Odd but a lot that I've seen or experienced, especially in the handheld / smart phone / tablet devices, offers the user a choice of male or female voice(s) to choose. Except for that apple siri product and perhaps one or two hardware types, Alexa, Ubi, jibo....