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Female-looking AI agents were paid less than male ones in virtual office, study finds
The Irish Times • • world
Key Points:
- Research from the University of Limerick reveals that gender bias in workplaces extends to interactions with AI assistants, with female-presenting AI receiving less monetary reward than male-presenting counterparts despite identical capabilities.
- In a virtual reality office experiment involving 189 workers, participants paid the male AI agent, Johan, 10.25% more than the female AI agent, Johanna, and perceived Johan as more human-like.
- The study suggests that AI design and presentation can activate existing gender biases, challenging the assumption that AI systems are inherently neutral.
- Researchers emphasize the need for careful consideration in AI design to avoid perpetuating workplace inequalities as AI becomes more integrated into work environments.
- Findings will be presented at the 14th Nordic Conference on Human-Computer Interaction and published by the Association for Computing Machinery.
