If you tell a child to draw a scientist, doctor, or any other respected figure, it’s oftentimes presented as masculine. A male scientist. A male doctor. A male firefighter. Patriarchy has been embedded in society in various multitudes. It’s an apparent feature in even children. Pages would be endless if the entirety of this system was discussed piece by piece. I’ve always found it interesting how subconsciously we associate males with authority and power.
Recently I’ve been observing my peers’ pronoun choices regarding AI bots. Although sources like ChatGPT are genderless and present as androgynous, I have caught many people referring to them as “he/him.” There seems to be an unspoken male perception towards AI bots which reflects male dominance in authority roles. Although AI doesn’t seem like a typical authoritarian/power figure, it holds a lot of control and use over people, especially recently. Many people rely on AI everyday, placing respect on generated content over taking time to educate themselves authentically.
I think it could be an interesting deep dive to dissect people’s gender associations within AI regarding different situations. Do people associate ChatGPT with being masculine when asking mathematical questions and maybe female association regarding emotional inquiries? Language and diction choices play a large role in gender association. Word choice can specifically alter someone’s perception of feminine vs. masculine associations. I find this especially interesting noting that AI bots are adaptable and attempt to create a defined personality with the user. Many of my friends talk about their ChatGPT use like they’ve been conversing with a friend. “Chat” is known to mimic users’ own personalities and expressiveness. It mimics “passion,” “empathy,” “humor,” and even “dominance.” I put these adjectives in quotations because I don’t believe artificial intelligence can display any form of authentic human traits. It’s purely synthetic.
So, it’s interesting that we place gender on synthetic diction and expressions. It’s terrifying to witness users that claim they’ve developed connections with their chat bots. Especially with recently programmed voice memo settings where the bot can mimic a natural way of speaking, with pauses and filler words.
Dominantly, people associate chat bots with male figures. I can account for many people addressing AI as “he.” I believe this is a scary reflection of, yet again, patriarchy embedded in society. An innocent pronoun can be very indicative of gender bias. Not only is it an eerie feeling to know people talk to their AI bots and form connections with them, but also that it’s indicative of gender stereotypes.
What other images do we refer to as masculine vs feminine? Especially subconsciously, every single day. Patriarchy is everywhere, and once you begin to look it’s more and more prominent. We’re all living in a world where the fantasy of the future is becoming more and more real. New advancements can be a beautiful thing, but also telling; the gender bias revealed in AI is worth reflecting on.