Are Bots Getting The Better Of Your Kids?

As we entrepreneurs build things and buy things, I’ve begun to wonder: what’s with all of the bots these days being given women’s names by its creators?

There’s Alexa. Siri. Zo. Amy. Amelia. Sophia. Erica. Pepper. Cortana. Tay. Luna. And the AI industry has only just gotten started.

Sure, giving a robot a humanizing name like Alexa is a lovely gesture. It’s a Greek name shortened from the female form of Alexander. It means “defender.” With such beauty and strength attached to the moniker, it’s no surprise that Amazon assigned it to its Echo product for our use.

“Women take care and men take charge.”

There’s also scientific research that says we’re more inclined to forgive bots’ mistakes if they have women’s names because “women take care and men take charge.” The majority of corporate America’s voicemail recordings still feature females’ voices. That voice coming out of your GPS? It’s a female’s voice. Companies tend to assign the jobs of secretaries and assistants to women. So it makes sense that if bots are tasked with the same kind of supportive work, bot creators would assign the same gender to these servile creatures.

But children are demanding of Siri on an hourly basis. Kids are yelling at Alexa all the time to serve their needs. Our kids…