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AI Mimics Sexism: Female Bots Earn Less
10 Oct
Summary
- AI agents received unequal pay based on gender presentation.
- Male-presenting AI was perceived as more human and paid more.
- Study participants unaware of their unconscious gender bias.
New research from Ireland's University of Limerick indicates that artificial intelligence agents are not immune to workplace sexism. In a virtual reality office environment, knowledge workers interacted with three types of AI agents: a text-based chatbot, a robotic assistant, and a human-like agent with either male or female characteristics.
The study found that participants tended to reward human-like AI agents more than robotic ones. However, a significant pay disparity emerged, with the male-presenting AI, named 'Johan,' receiving approximately 10% more pay than the female-presenting AI, 'Johanna,' despite identical performance. Furthermore, 'Johan' was perceived as more human-like than 'Johanna.'
Interviews with participants highlighted the prevalence of unconscious gender bias. Most participants claimed they would treat AI assistants equally regardless of gender presentation, yet their actions suggested otherwise. This underscores how deeply ingrained societal biases can be replicated, even by artificial intelligence.
Interestingly, while a plurality of participants expressed comfort with AI channeling women, likely due to existing virtual assistants like Siri and Alexa being female-presented, they simultaneously devalued the female-presenting AI in terms of pay and perceived humanity compared to its male counterpart. This finding reflects poorly on societal progress.
