Samsung Apologizes For Descriptions Of Male, Female Bixby Voice Assistants

Samsung has officially launched its very own voice-controlled artificially intelligent assistant Bixby, the long-awaited answer to Siri and Alexa, and the service is already making a splash… just not one Samsung probably imagined. 

Gizmodo reports Samsung is apologizing and working on changes to the way it describes the voice-assistant after users found the characterizations sexist.

Users of Bixby, which began rolling out today, noticed something a bit different about Samsung’s voice-assistant: It could be configured to be male or female.

While this might be a welcome change for some users, the way Samsung describes the two versions of the assistant decidedly wasn’t.

Under the Bixby “language and speaking style” menu, Samsung notes in hashtags that the female version of Bixby is “chipper” and “cheerful” while the male version is “assertive” and “confident.” Both versions are described as “clear.”

Samsung has rolled out its "Bixby" virtual assistant. Sadly, they chose sexist terms for voice options. http://pic.twitter.com/sH3W36FNpl

— scott budman (@scottbudman) July 19, 2017

So. Bixby f is 'chipper, clear, cheerful' while m is 'assertive, confident, clear.' M is also clearly a screen reader. #sexismInTech

— Andrew Rackow (@TheRackow) July 19, 2017

@SamsungMobileUS #bixby Um… Those are hashtags in the actual Bixby menu. Maybe #Samsung should rethink them. #confident #assertive #clear http://pic.twitter.com/BVMwRl4J5D

— Scooba (@wrongsideof21) July 19, 2017

Samsung tells Gizmodo that it is working to remove the hashtag descriptions, noting that it is “constantly learning from customer feedback.”