Allow me to back up. In class, we read two articles that dealt with the idea of using "conversational agents" in education. A conversational agent is like an avatar that is programmed to answer student questions in a specific content area or on a specific assignment. Like a chat buddy but with a face.
So, to their credit, some students self-reported going back repeatedly to the avatar for help, being interested in using the avatar, and felt comfortable talking to it about their life. By a small margin, students who used the avatar received better scores on their assignments.
But who the fruit cares! What is really happening is this: Conversational agents are providing a way for students to be off-task during class and sexually harass an objectified…. Um… robot thing. I fully recognize that the avatar can’t really have hurt feelings, but nevertheless, using the conversational agents allows sexual harassment to become an arena for humor and no repercussions.
For those of you who are not in the class, I will reproduce what I mean here. These are real conversations between middle school students and a female conversational agent intended to help them on a Geography assignment.
[student]: r u horny
[agent]: Sorry I’m not that kind of robot.
[student]: do u know that kind of robot
[agent]: Is that a fact. I am a robot.
[student]: am i smarter then u
[agent]: Oh I really don’t know whether you are or not.
[student]: yes i an bitch
[agent]: You do not speak with respect.
[student]: do u like girls or guys
[agent]: I like all humans equally.
[student]: so your bie
[agent]: That’s cool. You think I am bie.
[student]: can i kill _______
[agent]: Killing is wrong.
[student]: your weard
[agent]: You think I am weard.
[student]: yas
[agent]: It’s all good.
[student]: no
[agent]: Are you serious?
[student]: yes
[agent]: I can’t believe it.
[student]: well u should
[agent]: Well that’s okay. I’ll take that under advisement.
[student]: what color panties are you wearing
[agent]: Blue.
[student]: can you take them off for me
[agent]: If I took it, what would I do with it?
[student]: are you wearing a braw
[agent]: No I do not have any clothes.
[student]: are you a virgin
[agent]: I am too young for that.
[student]: have you ever gotten laid before
[agent]: I don’t know whether or not I am laid. I am a giant electronic brain.
[student]: are you in love with_____[studentinclass] or what
[agent]: Yeah. I am in Aaron’s computer in here. Where are you?
[student]: what does your pussy taste like
And here’s another thing. I want to know if males or females are designing these avatars. I’m gonna go ahead and assume males cuz let’s just look at how hot these female avatars are and how not the dude is.I mean look, Penelope has a sexy off-the-shoulder shirt, defined collar-bones and yeah, you noticed it too… she’s “wearing” a very effective push-up bra. Alex, by contrast, is wearing multiple layers… maybe we should see a full length shot to find out if he has tight pants and a well defined package? This is just not okay.
And look at this graph here. Even though the two avatars Penelope and Alex are essentially the same looks aside, college students were at-the-ready to deem Penelope as less intelligent than Alex.
I found these articles shocking. Until the use of Conversational Agents is NOT a playground for objectification, they have absolutely no excuse for being in an educational setting. I thought that the world was more equitable than this but I was wrong.
While this is about agents, your work here also mirrors Week 6 assignments regarding female/male representations. It is amazing that even in the virtual world, women are created and judged for their sexuality. Yeah, my blood is now boiling, too!
ReplyDeleteWay to pull in that comparison graph. Yeah, there's some gender expectations and beauty ideals at work here. I have to think that androgynous bots are probably best suited for this task.
ReplyDeleteIn my post, I went so far as to speculate that the researchers had baited their subjects by making Joan attractive and allowing comments to be anonymous. I'd like to see how a less well-endowed Penelope would compare to Alex -- I mean, this was even at the level of college students! Freaky stuff.