Amazon announced today that it has equipped its Echo devices with Alexa’s first male-voiced counterpart, Alex, which comes with the added functionality of talking over you at meetings and repackaging your ideas as its own.
The tech giant owned by the richest man in the world said it finally added a male voice to expand the device’s usage in professional environments.
“We only had a female voice on the Echo at first because our data shows that, for some reason only the data knows, most people much preferred bossing around a female voice, especially in domestic environments. So we kept it that way. Can’t question the data,” said Senior Echo Device Product Manager Brad Johnson holding his hands up. “But when we tested which gender’s voice people preferred hearing at professional meetings — especially ones where women keep on trying to be taken seriously as high-value contributors of original ideas and solutions — the data clearly shows people prefer hearing a male voice. So here we are. The data is the data.”
Amazon software engineer Melissa Troy says the Amazon Alex has already been a Godsend at her 10 o’clock scrum meetings.
“There simply weren’t enough men in the room to keep on repackaging every great idea I presented, but Alex is on top of it every time,” Troy said. “I still don’t get credit, promotions, or salary increases for offering up any of my ideas, no matter how successful they are after implementation. All that matters to me is that I assisted in helping men young and old shamelessly run with my ideas as if they were their own. The sheer joy I feel when I see them move up in the company, leaving me in the dust of this overcrowded open office space – that’s when all my hard work really pays off. With Alex, I get to experience that unparalleled joy almost every day.”
Amazon says that while the new male voice is primarily designed to help women have their ideas taken seriously by others and muting them whenever they talk about climate change, Alex’s Caucasian-sounding voice also comes in handy for men of color and people still waiting for their green card.
The Amazon Alex does not, however, take orders because it is above that and the law for that matter, Johnson said. A separate male assistant voice available to take its owners’ orders comes in the voice of a black man.
