AI-powered voice assistants from Google, Amazon, Apple, and others could be perpetuating harmful gender biases, according to a recent UN report. 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. Because the speech of most voice assistants is female, it sends a signal that women are… docile helpers, available at the touch…

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