When Jessie Humani made its debut in April, it was a young white woman with straight reddish-brown hair in a tank top and pair of sunglasses. About a month ago she became a racially ambiguous young woman with hoop earrings, curly hair, and a nose ring.
I see and experience new bots daily. Occasionally early in their life they may change their name, logo, or avatar, but this is the first instance I've ever encountered of a bot's avatar transforming from a white person to a person of color.
It's pretty easy to say that the face you see -- if a personal assistant has a face -- is very often less than diverse. I'm aware of no analysis of diversity among avatars, but virtual assistant avatars are quite often white women.
If the virtual assistant has a human avatar, they tend to have names like Jenn or Abby. This is likely no coincidence, given the "sea of dudes" problem in artificial intelligence.
The real Jessie
Jessie Humani is a character bot, part of PullString's effort to make bots for a wide array of age groups. PullString was founded by former Pixar employees, and it has made characters for Mattel (Hello Barbie), Thomas the Tank Engine, and Sesame Street. On Tuesday the company released its platform to help people make bots and characters.
Talking to Jessie is like a choose-your-own-adventure conversation with a playful young woman having trouble with adulting who needs your help. When you meet her, she just lost her job and her apartment. She's got a job interview lined up, and she's supposed to be looking for a new place when she experiences a "hottie sighting" at the coffee shop.
Reflecting the brand
Like a company logo, a bot mascot or avatar is chosen based on the impression the brand behind it wants to leave with the consumer.
