The Gendered Algorithm: A Biopolitical Examination of AI Personas

This literature review explores the increasing tendency to assign gender to artificial intelligence (AI), specifically examining instances where users perceive AI as female due to attributed "feminine traits," such as emotional intelligence and responsiveness to user needs. While AI itself may not possess an inherent sense of gender, the construction of AI personas and their embodiment in specific forms generates gender as a side effect. Drawing on existing research analyzing the design of AI personalities, this paper investigates the biopolitical implications of gendering AI. It examines how assigned genders reinforce existing societal stereotypes and power dynamics, potentially impacting user interactions, perpetuating bias, and affecting perceptions of AI's role in society. This paper seeks to understand how the gendering of AI shapes our understanding of what it means to be human in an increasingly technologically mediated world and contributes to the biopolitical management of bodies and populations in the digital sphere. Furthermore, it will consider how AI systems can perpetuate gender and racial biases, influence stereotypes, and potentially exacerbate gender gaps in various fields.