In humans, gender is defined as socio-cultural and historical markers (clothing, coiffure, body language, speech patterns, etc.) that are learned and performed, and even unlearned, by females and males. Although gender is often used in popular parlance as a polite euphemism for “sex”–and sometimes as code for “woman”–sex and gender are two different things. My talk addresses the question: Why are robots gendered? The process of gendering robots (and also AI itself) is largely based on self-evident and unexamined preconceptions of the “naturalness” of human gender. I will explore and interrogate the gendering of robots (and AI) manufactured today in Japan for employment in homes, hospitals, and offices.

Presented by Michigan Engineering Robotics.