Earlier this week, the team at Unanimous A.I. proudly announce the creation of the world’s first female A.I.  They call her UNA and she’s empowered to answer questions and make predictions from a truly female perspective.  If this is the first you’re hearing of this unique achievement, I’d encourage you to read more about it HERE. 

Long Story Short – from Siri and Alexa, to Cortana and Viv, just about every A.I. has been given a woman’s name and voice to match, but there’s been nothing female about these systems. In fact, many believe the reason that companies give these A.I.’s feminine names and voices is because they are performing menial tasks which were traditionally assigned to female secretaries. No one has ever built a truly female A.I., much less asked for its opinion. Until now. 

Inspired by importance of gender issues in this year’s U.S. presidential election, researchers at Unanimous A.I. built this gender-specific Artificial Swarm Intelligence to reveal insights into the unique gender-biases that permeate the voting population.

To that end, researchers asked UNA some pointed questions about the election and the two major candidates. Hillary Clinton could be the first-female President, but that narrative has not dominated the discussion of her campaign. That might be because Hillary Clinton has been a public figure for so long, or it could just be the effect of a incredibly chaotic campaign cycle. But either way, we wanted to know how having a female President would open doors for women, so we asked:

As you can see, UNA only “moderately” agrees with the premise of a Clinton presidency opening doors for women. In fact, when they asked UNA how important Clinton’s gender was in deciding whether or not to vote for her, UNA was adamant that it was almost irrelevant.

Which is not to say that gender relationships are not playing a role in the election, it’s just not a factor for UNA in the way we might have imagined coming into the campaign. In other words, it is the male candidate’s relationship with women that has become central to the campaign, not the woman’s unprecedented ascent to frontrunner. The release of controversial recordings of Trump describing his ability to grope women without protest because of his celebrity has cost him many GOP supporters, and so they had to ask UNA how she felt about those accusations.

In the wake of that tape’s release, nearly a dozen women have come forward to allege that Trump touched them inappropriately at some point over the past few decades. Trump has issued passionate denials both in his campaign speeches and on the debate stage. But those denials have not gained him much traction with females voters represented by UNA.

Trump is, of course, not alone in being accused of sexual misconduct. Hillary’s husband Bill has his own checkered history, including admitting to an affair while in the Oval Office. Of course, despite their long marriage, Hillary is the Clinton now currently running for President, not Bill. So, they asked UNA whether or not bringing Bill’s infidelities up was relevant to the campaign.

As you can see from the first conversations with UNA, a female A.I. does not always conform to expectations and stereotypes. Personally,. I am thrilled that A.I. is moving past female voices and names to a place truly female Artificial Intelligence.

To be part of an Artificial Swarm Intelligence, visit UNU.