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Consumers think that female AI is not only more human but also more trustworthy and more likely to consider the unique needs of users, according to a new study published March 22 in Psychology & Marketing. The large-scale study is the first of its kind about gendered AI and is key to understanding how current technology may objectify women.
The preference for female AI is evident in the market today, from virtual assistants such as Siri and Alexa to robots such as Sophia (who recently sold an NFT for nearly $700,000).
Machines lack warmth and friendliness, and humanizing technology makes users more apt to trust robots — especially when the robots are cast as
female.
Previous studies have shown that gendered and realistic robots are seen as more human, but researchers have largely overlooked the differences between female and male bots. Sylvie Borau, lead author of the study and a professor of ethical marketing at TBS Business School in Toulouse, France, said this distinction is important.
Borau's research uses "what really makes something human as a building block [to] explain why female features are so prominent in AI settings." She tested human characteristics, including competence, warmth and experience, in five separate studies. Online interactions and surveys with over 3,000 people compared gender perceptions not just in machines but in humans and animals, too.
In one study, participants were randomly assigned to either a female or a male chatbot and then answered questions about the chatbot's humanness, such as how mechanical, cold and evolved the bot was perceived to be. The male and female chatbots' ages, facial expressions and physical attractiveness were identical. Even their names, Oliver and Olivia, were similar.
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The preference for female AI is evident in the market today, from virtual assistants such as Siri and Alexa to robots such as Sophia (who recently sold an NFT for nearly $700,000).
Machines lack warmth and friendliness, and humanizing technology makes users more apt to trust robots — especially when the robots are cast as
female.
Previous studies have shown that gendered and realistic robots are seen as more human, but researchers have largely overlooked the differences between female and male bots. Sylvie Borau, lead author of the study and a professor of ethical marketing at TBS Business School in Toulouse, France, said this distinction is important.
Borau's research uses "what really makes something human as a building block [to] explain why female features are so prominent in AI settings." She tested human characteristics, including competence, warmth and experience, in five separate studies. Online interactions and surveys with over 3,000 people compared gender perceptions not just in machines but in humans and animals, too.
In one study, participants were randomly assigned to either a female or a male chatbot and then answered questions about the chatbot's humanness, such as how mechanical, cold and evolved the bot was perceived to be. The male and female chatbots' ages, facial expressions and physical attractiveness were identical. Even their names, Oliver and Olivia, were similar.
Women are perceived differently from men. Even when they’re robots.
Female bots are perceived to have more positive human qualities, such as warmth, experience and emotion, than male bots.
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