Amazon's Alexa becomes feminist, and we couldn't have been happier!
Amazon's voice-based digital assistant Alexa has undergone an update that makes the software a proud feminist. In a complex update, Alexa's writers have given it a 'disengage mode' that enables the female-voiced assistant to disengage from sexually explicit and demeaning questions. Here is more on the first feminist bot of the artificial intelligence (AI) generation.
Alexa will not entertain sexist statements like "you're a bitch"
Earlier, Alexa's response to statements like "you're a bitch" and "you're a slut" was "well, thanks for the feedback." If said, "you're hot," Alexa responded with "that's nice of you to say." However, now, Alexa's plan of action towards inappropriate statements is disengagement with the response "I'm not going to respond to that" or "I'm not sure what outcome you expected."
Alexa logically responds to sexism
"If you ask Alexa whether she's a feminist, she will say yes, adding 'As is anyone who believes in bridging the inequality between men and women in society'," Heather Zorn, the director of Amazon's Alexa engagement team said.
Petition to reprogram AI bots gets 17k signatures
In light of the recent #MeToo movement, Alexa's passive subservience hadn't gone down well with users who in a petition asked the company to "reprogram their bots to push back against sexual harassment." The petition, with currently over 17,000 signatures, states that "we have a unique opportunity to develop AI in a way that creates a kinder world."
Long way to go before all bots become assertive
Here is a list of how different voice-powered assistants react to sexist remarks. Ironically, when asked Apple's Siri if she is a slut, the AI responds with, "I'd blush if I could."
