No abstract

Multiple household devices are now using human-like voices. We investigate whether there are gender differences in the voices used by different kinds of specialized smart devices (e.g., microwaves vs. toy trucks) as provided by Google's search engine. These gender differences could fuel gender stereotypes in the household environment, or they could help challenge them. Early results suggest a preponderance of male-sounding voices among household devices in the search results but also multiple instances of counterstereotypical media presentation.