Webinar moderated by Jan Schneider posted 27 Jul 2021

"The Smart Wife: Why Siri, Alexa, and Other Smart Home Devices Need a Feminist Reboot"

Yolande Strengers and Jenny Kennedy discuss their book "The Smart Wife: Why Siri, Alexa, and Other Smart Home Devices Need a Feminist Reboot". The life and times of the Smart Wife—feminized digital assistants who are friendly and sometimes flirty, occasionally glitchy but perpetually available.

Strengers and Kennedy remind us that the design of gendered devices reinscribes outdated and unfounded stereotypes and that advanced technology is taking us backwards on gender equity. They offer a Smart Wife “manifesta,” proposing a rebooted Smart Wife that would promote a revaluing of femininity in society in all her glorious diversity.

The panelists

Yolande Strengers, Monash University

Yolande Strengers is Associate Professor of Digital Technology and Society in the Emerging Technologies Research Lab at Monash University where she leads the Energy Futures program. She is also Associate Dean of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion in the Faculty of Information Technology and an Associate Director (Consumers) of the Monash Energy Institute. Yolande's research investigates how digital technologies and AI are changing how we live.

Her focus is on the energy, sustainability, health and gender equity outcomes of emerging technologies, such as smart grids, smart homes, energy systems, automation, digital voice assistants, robots and Telepresence. As an interdisciplinary scholar, her work spans the fields of digital sociology, human-computer interaction (HCI) design, and science and technology studies. Yolande holds a PhD in Social Science, a Masters in Social Science and a Bachelor of Arts. Prior to academia, she worked in the energy and sustainability sectors in communications and media roles. Additionally, Yolande was selected as the winner of the 2021 Women in AI Award for Innovation in Australia & New Zealand and the B&T Women Leading Tech Award for Education & Research.

Jenny Kennedy, RMIT University

Jenny Kennedy is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the School of Media and Communication at RMIT University, Melbourne. She is also an Associate Investigator in the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making + Society, and a core member of the Digital Ethnography Research Centre (DERC) based at RMIT. Jenny holds a PhD in Media and Communication, a Master of Arts in Critical Inquiry, and a Bachelor of Arts in Film and Television.

She previously worked in the creative industries, in television and as a multimedia producer. Jenny's research is focussed on experiences of technologies within the home and is currently working on a range of projects that explore technofeminist approaches to AI and smart home technologies, ethical data governance, and improving the digital inclusion of low-income households. In 2020, she received the highly competitive Australian Research Council Discovery Early Career Research Award (DECRA) fellowship.

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