Why is JARVIS the only male AI?

Why was JARVIS the only male-coded AI in Tony Stark’s arsenal? Why is it that most fictional, and actual, voice assistants are female-coded?

J.A.R.V.I.S. as depicted in Age of Ultron, before he turned into a purple Paul Bettany. Image from — https://marvelcinematicuniverse.fandom.com/wiki/J.A.R.V.I.S.

In science fiction, one of the main indications that the characters are living in the high-tech future is an insanely smart, AI voice assistant. Star Trek’s Enterprise had the omnipresent Computer and Tony Stark famously traded quips with JARVIS (Just A Rather Very Intelligent System) before the AI became the sentient Vision. Today, in the real world, we can only dream of such sarcastic systems that both understand and anticipate our needs. Alexa, Siri, and Cortana pale in comparison.

Even JARVIS’s successors weren’t nearly as memorable. After JARVIS became a real boy, Stark communicated with his myriad tech through a new voice assistant, FRIDAY (Female Replacement Intelligent Digital Assistant Youth.) Literally termed as a replacement for JARVIS,
“she” still maintained a sassy personality and helped Stark right up until the end. Similarly, when Peter Parker received an upgraded Spidey Suit from Stark, it came preloaded with an unnamed voice user interface that Parker eventually called, “Karen.” (This being an upgrade from Suit Lady.)

FRIDAY, complete with heels, as portrayed in the comics. Image from — https://www.scifimoviepage.com/a-preview-of-iron-man-1/

Why was JARVIS the only male-coded AI in Tony Stark’s arsenal? Why is it that most fictional, and actual, voice assistants are female-coded?

Why we prefer female voices

The common belief is that women’s voices are apparently more pleasant and easier to understand as compared to male-coded voices, despite there being no scientific evidence of this claim. Nevertheless, this is how the tech sector often justifies the choice to use women’s voices as AI assistants. According to tech futurist and author Bernard Marr, who has written a whole lot of books on big data, “Research might suggest that humans have a preference for the sound of female voices, and studies have found that female voices tend to articulate vowel sounds more clearly which makes them easier to understand. We also have more female…