Adhering, Steering, and Queering: Treatment of Gender in Natural Language Generation

Yolande Strengers, Lizhen Qu, Qiongkai Xu, Jarrod Knibbe

    Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

    29 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    Natural Language Generation (NLG) supports the creation of personalized, contextualized, and targeted content. However, the algorithms underpinning NLG have come under scrutiny for reinforcing gender, racial, and other problematic biases. Recent research in NLG seeks to remove these biases through principles of fairness and privacy. Drawing on gender and queer theories from sociology and Science and Technology studies, we consider how NLG can contribute towards the advancement of gender equity in society. We propose a conceptual framework and technical parameters for aligning NLG with feminist HCI qualities. We present three approaches: (1) adhering to current approaches of removing sensitive gender attributes, (2) steering gender differences away from the norm, and (3) queering gender by troubling stereotypes. We discuss the advantages and limitations of these approaches across three hypothetical scenarios; newspaper headlines, job advertisements, and chatbots. We conclude by discussing considerations for implementing this framework and related ethical and equity agendas.

    Original languageEnglish
    Title of host publicationCHI 2020 - Proceedings of the 2020 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
    PublisherAssociation for Computing Machinery
    ISBN (Electronic)9781450367080
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 21 Apr 2020
    Event2020 ACM CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, CHI 2020 - Honolulu, United States
    Duration: 25 Apr 202030 Apr 2020

    Publication series

    NameConference on Human Factors in Computing Systems - Proceedings

    Conference

    Conference2020 ACM CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, CHI 2020
    Country/TerritoryUnited States
    CityHonolulu
    Period25/04/2030/04/20

    Fingerprint

    Dive into the research topics of 'Adhering, Steering, and Queering: Treatment of Gender in Natural Language Generation'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

    Cite this