I was watching a video posted earlier today by the great James Corbett of the @corbettreport it was how we need to stop normalizing robots like Sophia.

You can watch the video here

A big part of normalizing something is through language. How we refer to this robot affects our perception of it.

By attaching gender pronouns to this over-glorified sound machine, the media is manipulating our thought processes into treating Sophia as if she were a real woman and not just a robot modeled after one.

So I decided to go through a few online articles and tally the times they refer to Sophia as 'she' and 'her'

Here are my results

The DailyFAIL at 25 times

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-5114277/Humanoid-robot-Sophia-claims-wants-start-FAMILY.html

It's a thing, not a woman. The comparison is stupid.

The MSN at 15 times

https://www.msn.com/en-in/news/techandscience/sophia-the-robot-wants-to-start-a-family/ar-BBFw2yO

Newsweek at 10 times

http://www.newsweek.com/sophia-saudi-robot-baby-future-family-725254

The BBC at 13 times

http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/article/42122742/sophia-the-robot-wants-a-baby-and-says-family-is-really-important

Notice how all the articles mention the comparison between Sophia and Saudi 'women'

Again it's not a woman, it's a thing. Very important distinction.

The articles go on but you'll see the same thing with every one of them. The persistent use of 'she' and 'her' when referring to Sophia.

Anyways food for thought. Let me know what you think in the comment section.

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