Why do we gender AI?

Level 1 l Pre-intermediate / Intermediate

1 Warmer
Rank these uses of voice assistants in order from 1 (most useful) to 6 (least useful).
1. _______________________________ a. making phone calls
2. _______________________________ b. setting alarms
3. _______________________________ c. telling you which song is playing
4. _______________________________ d. making reservations
5. _______________________________ e. finding and reading emails
6. _______________________________ f. reminding you about important events or dates

2 Key words
Fill the gaps in the sentences using these key words from the text. The paragraph numbers will help you.

default compliant gender-neutral inclusive ethnic minority

1. If something is ____________________________, it does not refer specifically to a particular gender. (para 1)

2. An ____________________________ is a group of people with the same culture and traditions who live in a
place where most people have a different culture and traditions. (para 1)
3. If something is ____________________________, it involves all types of people. (para 1)
4. If something happens by ____________________________, it will appear or be done if you make no other
choice. (para 3)
5. A ____________________________ person is too willing to do what other people want. (para 3)

diversity non-binary impairment prototype norm

6. A ____________________________ is the first form of something new, made before it is produced in large
quantities. (para 4)
7. If something is ____________________________, it does not consist of only two things. (para 4)
8. ____________________________ is the fact that very different people exist within a group or place. (para 5)
9. If you have an ____________________________, a part of your body is unable to do something fully. (para 7)
10. Something that is usual or expected is known as a ____________________________. (para 8)

3 Find the information

Find the following information in the text as quickly as possible.
1. By what percentage is Alexa’s understanding of native accents better than its understanding of
non-native accents?
2. By what percentage is Google’s speech recognition more accurate for men than it is for women?
3. What is Project Q?
4. What does AI stand for?
5. How many people were involved in Project Q’s voice sample?
6. Which organization is planning to launch a voice assistant called Beeb in 2020?
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NEWS LESSONS / Why do we gender AI? / Pre-intermediate / Intermediate

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Why do we gender AI?
Level 1 l Pre-intermediate / Intermediate
Why do we gender AI? Voice tech
firms move to be more inclusive
Kieran Yates
11 January, 2020
1 In 2020, we can expect new developments in
voice technology. These include technology that
can understand regional accents and gender-
neutral voice assistants. People have criticized
products such as Alexa and Siri because they
often misunderstand women, ethnic minorities
and people with regional accents. In response to
this criticism, the voice tech industry is trying to
become more inclusive by introducing a range of
new projects.
2 One study asked people to read out different
news headlines and then looked at what
Alexa thought people had said. The difference
between what the people said and what Alexa
understood was 30% bigger for people with
non-native accents. Recent research also shows
that Google’s speech recognition is 13% more
accurate for men than it is for women.
3 A project that wants to make voice tech more
inclusive is Project Q. It is a gender-neutral voice
assistant expected to launch in 2020. “Current
voice technology is gendered,” says Ryan
Sherman, of Project Q. “Siri or Google Assistant
mainly start out as female by default, so we
asked a question: why do we gender AI (artificial
intelligence)? Research shows that female voices
are more helpful and more compliant. Male
voices indicate superiority and intelligence. All
voice tech only offers two options.”
4 Project Q launched in 2019 with a prototype
voice developed by non-binary linguists. They
asked a sample of 4,500 people from across
Europe whether it sounded male or female. The
answers were split 50/50. “We want this voice
to be used in voice assistants but also in metro
stations, games, etc. There is huge potential,”
says Sherman.
Published by Macmillan Education Ltd. © Macmillan Education Limited, 2020.
NEWS LESSONS / Why do we gender AI? / Pre-intermediate / Intermediate
5 Other companies are also trying to diversify voice
tech. Mozilla launched the Common Voice project
in 2019 to find global voices to help diversify AI
speech. “Companies that started years ago with
voice recognition often got their data from public
radio,” said Katharina Borchert, from Mozilla.
“Those were mostly male, native speakers with
really trained voices. There are not a lot of female
voices, and it doesn’t have people with regional
accents. That’s why the early version had real
problems understanding women. So the larger
the diversity of speakers, the greater the quality
in the end.”
6 The BBC is developing a voice assistant called
Beeb to launch in 2020, designed to respond
to users’ requests. Mukul Devichand, executive
editor of voice and AI, says it is also looking
at how to respond better to regional accents.
“We’ve been involving people from all corners of
the country to make sure that our conversation
assistant represents regional accents,” he says.
7 Dr Saul Albert, of Loughborough University, is
not sure that these projects give full assistance
and highlights one area that needs attention.
“Amazon, Google and other technology
companies are going to have to involve disabled
people in design,” he says. “There are standard
features in products like the Google Home and
the Amazon Echo, as well as Google’s Euphonia
project, which learns the voice patterns of users
with speech impairments.”
8 Dr Leigh Clark, of Swansea University, is more
optimistic, but he says there are still important
things to remember when developing some of
these projects: “If we have gender-neutral voices,
do these become the norm or do these become
another option for the user to choose?”
© Guardian News and Media 2020
First published in The Guardian, 11/01/20
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Why do we gender AI?
Level 1 l Pre-intermediate / Intermediate
4 Comprehension check
Match the beginnings and endings to make statements about the text.

1. According to research, female voices used in AI …
2. Some companies are looking for ways to …
3. Google Euphonia learns …
4. Half the people in Project Q thought …
5. The new BBC voice assistant will …
6. Project Q’s non-binary voice may also …
a. … the voice sounded male and the other half
thought it sounded female.
b. … sound more helpful and compliant.
c. … be used in metro stations and in games.
d. … be able to recognize regional accents.
e. … make voice technology less binary and more
gender-neutral.
f. … the voice patterns of users with
speech impairments.

5 Chunks
Rearrange the words to make phrases from the text.

1. voice new in technology developments

2. regional with accents people
3. 4,500 from Europe a people sample of across
4. diversity, the the larger the quality the greater
5. women they misunderstand often
6. all of from the country corners

6 Two-word phrases
Match the words in the left-hand column with the words in the right-hand column to make expressions
from the text.

1. regional a. minority
2. native b. impairment
3. voice c. accent
4. ethnic d. recognition
5. speech e. feature
6. standard f. speaker
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NEWS LESSONS / Why do we gender AI? / Pre-intermediate / Intermediate

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 Why do we gender AI?
Level 1 l Pre-intermediate / Intermediate
7 Word-building
Complete the table using words from the text.

verb noun
1. develop
2. assist
3. assist (person)
4. criticize
5. respond
6. recognize

8 Discussion
• Do you think voice assistants like Alexa and Siri are a good thing? Why? Why not?

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NEWS LESSONS / Why do we gender AI? / Pre-intermediate / Intermediate

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Why do we gender AI?
Level 1 l Pre-intermediate / Intermediate
KEY

2 Key words 5 Chunks

1. gender-neutral 1. new developments in voice technology

2. ethnic minority 2. people with regional accents
3. inclusive 3. a sample of 4,500 people from across Europe
4. default 4. the larger the diversity, the greater the quality
5. compliant 5. they often misunderstand women
6. prototype 6. from all corners of the country
7. non-binary
8. diversity
9. impairment 6 Two-word phrases
10. norm
1. c
2. f
3 Find the information 3. d
4. a
1. 30% 5. b
2. 13% 6. e
3. a gender-neutral voice assistant
4. artificial intelligence
5. 4,500 7 Word-building
6. the BBC
1. development
2. assistance
4 Comprehension check 3. assistant
4. criticism
1. b 5. response
2. e 6. recognition
3. f
4. a
5. d
6. c
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NEWS LESSONS / Why do we gender AI? / Pre-intermediate / Intermediate

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