Why It Matters Whether a Robot Is Given a Gender

Is it a bad idea to assign a gender to digital assistants and other robots?

Organizations such as the Brookings Institution have expressed concern about giving traditionally male or female names, voices and appearances to technology, saying that doing so might reinforce unfair gender stereotypes. When digital assistants such as Alexa and Siri were given female-sounding names and voices, for example, critics complained that the products stereotyped women as being humble or subservient.