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Making Siri a genderless helper
為什么大多語音助手都是“女聲”？
When was the last time you heard a "male" voice assistant? Chances are never, as most of the artificial intelligence (AI) we're used to hearing is "female", like Apple's Siri or Amazon's Alexa. However, a new UN study argues that this shows a negative gender bias.
上一次你聽見“男性”語音助手的聲音，是什么時候？很有可能你從沒聽過這樣的聲音，因為我們所使用的大多數人工智能助手都是“女性”的聲音，比如蘋果的Siri和亞馬遜的Alexa。但聯合國的一份新研究卻認為，這體現了一種負面的性別歧視。
The UNESCO report has looked into the effect of having female voice assistants, saying they encourage the idea that women typically hold assistant jobs and that they should be "docile".
這份聯合國教科文組織的報告調查了使用女性語音助手所帶來的影響，認為它們助長了女性大多做著助理工作，并且就應當“溫順聽話”的想法。
"Because the speech of most voice assistants is female, it sends a signal that women are obliging, docile and eager-to-please helpers, available at the touch of a button or with a blunt voice command like 'hey' or 'OK'," said the report.
“由于大多數語音助手都是女聲，這傳遞出了一種信號：女性都是樂于助人、溫順聽話、急欲取悅他人的助手形象，輕輕一點或者用生硬的語音命令（如“嘿”、“OK”）便可喚來，”該報告表示。
Meanwhile, by naming voice assistants with traditionally female names, like Alexa and Siri, tech companies have also strengthened stereotypes of women, according to the report. For example, in Norwegian, Siri means "a beautiful woman who leads you to victory", according to The Week magazine.
與此同時，該報道認為，科技公司用Alexa、Siri等傳統女性名字為語音助手命名，這樣的做法也強化了對于女性的刻板印象。比如，據《周刊報道》雜志報道，在挪威語中，Siri意為“一位引領你走向成功的美麗女子”。
The stereotypes caused by female voice assistants have raised concerns.
這種由女性語音助手所導致的刻板印象已經引發了關注。
"Stereotypes do matter because they come back to affect how young girls and young women see themselves and the way they have dreams and aspirations for the future. It's almost like going back to the image of women that was held in the 1950s or 1960s," UNESCO's gender equality director, Saniye Gulser Corat, told Time magazine.
“刻板印象的確影響重大，因為它們會再度影響年輕女性看待自己的方式，以及她們未來的夢想與志向。這種刻板印象幾乎退回到了上世紀50、60年代所認為的女性形象，”聯合國教科文組織性別平等部負責人薩尼耶·居爾瑟·克拉特在接受《時代周刊》雜志采訪時如此表示。
It's believed that the problem is a result of the fact that there are not so many women workers in the tech field.
人們認為，這一問題源于科技領域女性員工不多的現實因素。
Currently, 80 percent of AI professors are men, while just 15 percent of AI research workers at Facebook and 10 percent at Google are women, according to a New York University report in April.
據紐約大學今年四月的一項報告顯示，如今，80%的人工智能教授為男性，在臉書或谷歌就職的人工智能科研人員中，分別只有15%和10%為女性。
"These mistakes happen because you do not have the diverse teams and diversity of thought," Allison Gardner, a co-founder of Women Leading in AI, a UK think tank, told The New York Times.
“這些誤解之所以會產生，是因為公司內部沒有多元化的團隊和想法，”英國智庫“女性引領人工智能”共同創始人之一的艾利森·加德納在接受《紐約時報》采訪時如此表示。
To deal with the problem, some technologists have been designing a genderless digital voice, reported BBC News. The report also calls for more women to be involved in the tech field.
據英國廣播公司新聞頻道報道，為了解決這一問題，一些技術專家正在設計一款中性的數字聲音。該報告也呼吁讓更多女性在科技領域占有一席之地。
"A more gender-equal digital space is a distinct possibility, but to realize this future, women need to be involved in the inception and implementation of technology," noted the report.
“一個性別更加平等的數字空間大有可能，但為了令這樣的未來成為現實，女性需要參與科技的設想與實施，”該報告指出。
