Abstract
ABSTRACT This article makes the case for considering conversational AI devices a critical urban challenge, particularly as the home gains importance in everyday life. Drawing on excerpts from conversations with Alexa – the market-leading digital voice assistant designed and manufactured by Amazon – the article illustrates how this device’s friendly feminine personality masks significant environmental and gender effects. Building on the author’s ongoing research on the smart home, the article considers how the “feminist reboot” proposed by Strengers & Kennedy in The Smart Wife could provide promising routes for urban scholars seeking to disrupt and intervene in the troubling trajectories of feminised AI.
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