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Gender bias is inherent in technology from AI to digital assistants, it impacts us in ways we might not even realise. Technology reflects its makers and will never be equal or representative of communities while there is a lack of diversity in the development teams that are building it.

When we boost the representation of women and girls in STEM, we all benefit from their wealth of unique ideas, perspectives and talents.

Products may not capture the needs of half of the population if women are not on the design teams.

Bias and existing inequities can grow if data fed to AI does not include contributions from women.

The bias is real, and the ways this appears can be shocking. And we know this lack of diversity and underrepresentation exists.

IWD2023 ‘Cracking the Code: Innovation for a gender equal future’.

Based on the priority theme for the United Nations 67th Commission on the Status of Women – Cracking the Code highlights the role that bold, transformative ideas, inclusive technologies, and accessible education can play in combatting discrimination and the marginalisation of women globally.

Find out more about how the Victorian Government is #CrackingTheCode here .

Women in AI (WAI) Awards APAC This #IWD2023 the UN calling for inclusive technologies and accessible education for women and girls with the theme #CrackingTheCode. One way that we can address bias is by recognising women and the Women in AI Awards plays an important part in creating a gender equal future.

In its inaugural year in 2021, the Women in AI (WAI) Awards AI in Innovation award was won by Victorian, Yolande Strengers, Associate Professor of Digital Technology and Society at Monash University - who was recognised for her research and interventions into the gendered problems with digital voice assistants - where she currently leads the Energy Futures program.

In 2023 will honour the top Women in AI in the Asia-Pacific the pioneers who are taking the road less travelled; the women who are paving the way for others to reach even further and to dare to dream even bigger.

Committed to supporting and rewarding excellence to Women in AI, the WAI Awards 2023 will be prestigious in their recognition and vital in building the credibility and exposure for Women in AI in the Asia-Pacific.

Applications close at midnight GMT (+5:30) Friday 31 March 2023. Find out more here .

Why Smart Home Devices Need a Feminist Reboot These issues are top of mind for leading Victorian researchers Professor Yolande Strengers from Monash University and Dr Jenny Kennedy from RMIT University. Their book The Smart Wife: Why Siri, Alexa, and Other Smart Home Devices Need a Feminist Reboot examined 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.

Get the book here or watch their Talks at Google session.

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