If a robot is designed to look like a person, it is given distinct secondary sex characteristics. Even AI, not housed in human(oid) bodies, become man or woman at their creator’s whim. It may seem a silly quirk that we insist on sorting the computer people by a trait applicable only to humans, but I don’t think that’s the full story. In fact, I would argue that gender relations have shaped our very concept of what AI and robots should be.
Author: Caryn
Caryn was too busy overloading their schedule to attend the Personality seminar in college, so they are mostly amalgamation of pre-programmed responses and YA-protagonist-level snark. Frequently-accessed items in their database include The Book Was Better Than the Movie; Let’s Make a Spreadsheet; Science and Science Fiction; Fonts!; I Think You Just Made A Reference But I Don’t Understand; Yet Another Rant About Tech and Surveillance Culture; and Dirt. Caryn has never met a pun they could pass up, and wants to be remembered as “that awkward person you once saw sitting in the corner for the whole party.” Find them on twitter @ofendlessstars.