Abstract

In recent decades, there has been a rise in human-like and femininely gendered information systems, such as voice-based conversational agents. Research has identified both benefits and harms in this development. While the feminisation of information systems may increase usability, trust, technology acceptance and user enjoyment, it can also reproduce harmful gender stereotypes, biases, and oppression in society. Using the conversational agent Alexa as an example, this conceptual article contributes to the discussion by examining the gendering of information systems through the concepts of gender cue and gender script. In conclusion, it suggests that a conceptual distinction between the designer’s gender script and the user’s gender script should be made. This distinction would enable a better understanding of gendering as a flexible process and, when utilised in the research on human-like information systems, would enable the incorporation of anti-determinist, anti-essentialist, queer and intersectional perspectives.

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