Causing Confusion

[Midas]

Wearing a dress yesterday while on holiday in North Yorkshire, I used the gents in a restaurant. The hand drier was close to the entrance and as I used it a man came in. He looked at me (saw the dress) and looked confused. He went back outside to check the sign before returning, having obviously thought he must have strayed into the ladies.

This happened a second time a couple of hours later in a public facility in the same town.

There was no conversation on either occasion.

[STEVIE]

Same thing has happened to me, Midas.
Made me chuckle.
Steve

[Coder]

I was at whole foods returning assorted amazon stuff at the kiosk, when a male attendant behind the desk says loudly “I can help you with those sir”. At the same time he’s speaking, he is walking around to the front and says, “erm m’am”.

Honestly, the poor bloke was confused. While I was wearing earrings, those weren’t quite as confusing as was the green and yellow (fleurdelis) Boden skirt and yellow shoes.

I politely said, “oh, it’s ‘sir’, but don’t worry”. He apologized and I said “really - not a big deal”.

I eventually relented and let him return the last few of my items, but I much prefer the company of robots.

[Mouse]

.....but I much prefer the company of robots.

You set me thinking....run on a few years and shop assistants are now robots....how likely is the robot programming to be any better at choosing the correct pronouns for MIS than today's humans?

[shadowfax]

You set me thinking....run on a few years and shop assistants are now robots....how likely is the robot programming to be any better at choosing the correct pronouns for MIS than today's humans?

Rather depends on whether the robots have purely visual sensors or whether they will also have other sensors (radar-like, sonic, X-ray)?

[crfriend]

Rather depends on whether the robots have purely visual sensors or whether they will also have other sensors (radar-like, sonic, X-ray)?

Nope. Give a computer all the sensory equipment you want and it's still going to blow "gender identification" most every time. Why? Because it's not perceptible -- and it's not perceptible because it's all in our minds. Only we know why we dress the way we do. That's what all the mess is about in the first place -- people making incorrect assumptions about something that they cannot know.

We're going to be stuck in this rut until we learn how to treat each other as human beings and not items to be judged -- and given the current trajectory of civilisation, that day may never come. We're getting farther and farther away from it every single day, and we have been for years.

[shadowfax]

Rather depends on whether the robots have purely visual sensors or whether they will also have other sensors (radar-like, sonic, X-ray)?

Nope. Give a computer all the sensory equipment you want and it's still going to blow "gender identification" most every time. Why? Because it's not perceptible -- and it's not perceptible because it's all in our minds. Only we know why we dress the way we do. That's what all the mess is about in the first place -- people making incorrect assumptions about something that they cannot know.

We're going to be stuck in this rut until we learn how to treat each other as human beings and not items to be judged -- and given the current trajectory of civilisation, that day may never come. We're getting farther and farther away from it every single day, and we have been for years.

Of course, you're right.
Sorry for my levity.

[Seb]

I rather think that AI/Robots will be addressing us gender neutral, if only to avoid the entire issue.

Atleast here we rarely refer to someones gender outside 3rd person, we don't use the honorific sir/ma'am instead opting for you or leaving it out completely if its a casual setting. Sounds a bit clunky in English but it works.

Hello you, welcome instead of Hello sir/ma'am, welcome. Our just cut the honorific all together, Hello, welcome.

[Coder]

.....but I much prefer the company of robots.

You set me thinking....run on a few years and shop assistants are now robots....how likely is the robot programming to be any better at choosing the correct pronouns for MIS than today's humans?

As Seb and others wrote - a "smart" robot would drop the honorifics altogether... or it would be able to see your personal data, government IDs, read all of your social media posts, and make an very-well informed (1984 cough) opinion and use all of that to know how to address you. Heck, it might even have samples of your DNA by that point to throw as much confusion into the mix. And then it'll hallucinate and refer to you as a small furry creature from Alpha Centauri (I wouldn't necessarily complain at that point).

[Coder]

Hello you, welcome instead of Hello sir/ma'am, welcome. Our just cut the honorific all together, Hello, welcome.

And it can't even safely say Hello human as at some point we'll have androids doing our shopping for us.

[phathack]

Hello you, welcome instead of Hello sir/ma'am, welcome. Our just cut the honorific all together, Hello, welcome.

And it can't even safely say Hello human as at some point we'll have androids doing our shopping for us.

Hello ugly bags of mostly water
Star Next Generation Reference : "Home Soil"

[Coder]

Hello ugly bags of mostly water
Star Next Generation Reference : "Home Soil"

Gonna have to look that one up, but this would also work equally well for androids of the "Alien" series.