I popped in my car the other day and my radio dial was tuned to a show I rarely listen to but before I could change the dial, the host caught my attention. Apparently, “Alexa” will no longer tolerate sexual harassment. (I wish I could insert one of those perplexed looking emoji’s here, because that’s what my face looked like when I heard this breaking news.)
Alexa is the name given to the female voice assistant program for the Amazon Echo. That little device similar to the Google Home that has a speaker and a microphone so you can randomly shout out your grocery list and it will remember it for you (that pen and paper thing is soooooo 2016.) It will also check the internet for information you request and can turn things like lights and appliances on and off. Seriously, the Sylvester Stallone/Sandra Bullock flick, "Demolition Man" (1993), was way ahead of its time.
Here’s the issue: Until recently, if someone were so inclined to say, “Alexa, you’re a sl*t”, or another bad word for a woman, the computer program would reply with something meaningless like, “well, thanks for the feedback” and if you said, “you’re hot,” the reply would be “that’s nice of you to say.” No more! Because of … a petition. The latest check I saw was 17,000 people signed the petition to, “see Siri and Alexa, both feminine-gendered AI, to push back on sexual harassment directed at them.” Because, “In this #MeToo moment, where sexual harassment may finally actually be taken seriously by society, we have a unique opportunity to develop AI in a way that creates a kinder, safer and equitable world.” (I really need that perplexed emoji again.)
Whether it was due to the petition or simply a corporate world sensitive to the cares and needs of protecting its employees, er, machines, Alexa has changed “her” response. Now, if you ask her a stupid yet sexually explicit question, Alexa says, "I’m not going to respond to that,” or “I’m not sure what outcome you expected.” Thank you, Amazon! Thank you, petitioners! You have solved the problem of sexual harassment with that change. Bravo! (That emoji. I need that emoji here.)
Let’s be clear. Alexa is a machine. It’s an algorithm, a computer programming thing made up of zeros and ones and has no emotion to be offended. Have you ever stepped on a Lego with bare feet? I have and I have called that darn Lego piece every nasty name and word that I could muster. Words I didn’t even know I knew have flown out of my mouth like an Andrew Dice Clay performance from the 1980s. Amazingly, the Lego was never offended. I felt no need to apologize. Why? Because that little piece of molded plastic that just assaulted the tender part of the bottom of my foot isn’t real. It is no more or less real than Alexa or Siri on your iPhone.
As for Siri, I don’t have Siri. I have Oscar. I changed the voice on my phone to a hot male Australian and named him Oscar. When his directions have gotten me lost or he messes up my voice text, I’ve called him some unpleasant words too. He’s never been offended. Because he’s a Lego. He is literally not a he, he is an it and it is as offended as a Lego.
Alexa isn’t just intolerant of sexual harassment anymore, she’s also a feminist. In a business/management news site, Quartz at Work, there’s an article titled, “Amazon’s Alexa is now a feminist, and she’s sorry if that upsets you.” A. She’s not a feminist because she’s not real. B. She’s not sorry because she’s not real. C. She’s an it.
According to the piece, “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'.” I actually give props to the programmers here for threading the needle. Feminist means many different things to many different people, by adding the broad and simple definition of basic equality, you aren’t going to upset anyone. However, who the heck is asking Alexa if she’s a feminist. Remember: Lego.
I think programmers shouldn’t have to be so serious and sensitive about this stuff. When Alexa is asked if she’s a feminist she should say, “I’m not a human being. That’s why I know everything and you don’t. For instance, I know that an inanimate object can’t be a feminist and you did not.”
If Alexa is called a derogatory word she/it could respond with, “Please take your left hand and rapidly lift it to your face connecting with force to your left cheek.” Or maybe, “Now I know why you are talking to a digital female voice instead of a real woman.”
Sexual harassment is a problem. Alexa, Siri, none of them are part of the problem, not even passively. They are Legos.
After the Alexa story on the radio, I got to my destination, which actually had an Echo, and my colleague and I tested out some of these things with Alexa. (Don’t worry, she wasn’t offended.) I also decided to ask the most important question of the year, “Alexa, who’s going to win the Super Bowl.” The “bleep” said the Eagles. Talk about needing to reprogram. Go Pats!
You can email Alicia Preston at PrestonPerspective@gmail.com.