Gmail stops Smart Compose due to gender bias

Gender bias...in Gmail Smart Compose. No one saw this coming. Mashable:

[A] researcher noticed that Smart Compose was assigning gendered pronouns in a way that mirrored some real-world gender bias: It automatically ascribed a "him" pronoun to a person only previously described as an "investor." In other words, it assumed that the investor — a role in a largely male-dominated field — was a man.

Studies show that in language, gender bias — or assuming someone's [sic] gender based on stereotypes or tendencies associated with men or women — has the power to both "perpetuate and reproduce" bias in the way people treat each other, and the way we think of ourselves.

"Gender-biased language is harmful because it limits all of us," Toni Van Pelt, the president of the National Organization for Women (NOW) said. "If a woman is using AI, and it refers to an engineer as a 'him,' it may get in her brain that only men make good engineers. ("Math class is tough," - Barbie).  It limits our scope of dreaming. That’s why it sets us back so far."  (I can't be the only one thinking Toni has way too much time on her its hands? - Drake)

    ❌mankind ✔️humankind
    ❌businessmen ✔️representatives
    ❌congressman ✔️legislator
    ...
    Use your language to fight gender bias with gender-neutral expressions! Find out about #GenderTerm: https://t.co/GtVRz8vX37 pic.twitter.com/6wO2YQpZ1Y

    — UN Women (@UN_ Women) May 26, 2018

Gmail reportedly attempted several fixes for its own subtle gender bias, but none of them were perfect. So the Smart Compose architects decided the best solution was to remove pronoun suggestions altogether.

We can presume NOW will change the last word of their organization to something gender-neutral, right? Not doing that would be kinda hypocritical, wouldn't it? And they wouldn't be hypocrites, would they?

❌ Women ✔️ ??????

Image: Ali Express