In the movies, artificial intelligence is still a man's world

FOR decades, artificial intelligence has fascinated scientists, but also filmmakers. This interest has given rise to numerous movies and series that strive to decipher the mysteries of this technology. But these cinematographic creations contribute to reinforcing inequalities in a field that is regarded as male-dominated.

Researchers from the University of Cambridge have analyzed more than 1,400 movies on artificial intelligence released between 1920 and 2020. They selected 142 of them that were, in their eyes, the most influential movies on this theme.

The research team found that most of these films feature engineers, data scientists and other professionals from the STEM -- or science, technology, engineering and mathematics -- sector. A total of 116 AI specialists appear in the selected titles, which include "I, Robot," "Iron Man" and "Ex Machina."

But Stephen Cave and colleagues found that almost all of these roles are played by men (92%). In fact, they were only able to identify nine female AI professionals in their corpus of audiovisual content, five of whom were subordinate to a more experienced male colleague or had a personal relationship with him (wife or daughter).

Take Frau Greta Farbissina, the German scientist played by Mindy Sterling in the "Austin Powers" trilogy. She is more known to moviegoers for her ambiguous relationship with Dr. Evil than for her scientific discoveries, even though she designed a sophisticated army of androids to stop Austin Powers.

This lack of gender parity in audiovisual works about AI reinforces the idea that this field of research is reserved for "geeks." A cliché that is perpetuated by films such as "Iron Man" and "Ex Machina," featuring solitary geniuses with extraordinary intellectual abilities.

But the very concept of a "genius" is not neutral, according to Stephen Cave, director of the Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence at Cambridge University and co-author of the study.

"Genius is an idea based in gendered and racialized notions of intelligence, historically shaped by a white male elite. Some influential technologists, such as Elon Musk, have deliberately cultivated ‘genius’ personas that are explicitly based on cinematic characters such as Iron Man," the researcher explains in a statement.

A lack of women in tech

This invisibility of female researchers and other STEM professionals in AI-related films and series may be linked to the absence of women behind the camera. Indeed, the research team from the University of Cambridge noted that no feature film in their corpus had been directed solely by a woman.

"Captain Marvel," for example, was co-directed by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck. From a cultural point of view, this lack of female directors is problematic, because films and series replicate the biases of those who direct or write them.

"Mainstream films are an enormously influential source and amplifier of the cultural stereotypes that help dictate who is suited to a career in AI," said study co-author Kanta Dihal.

While it is a sector of the future, tech is lagging behind in terms of gender parity. Women represent less than 30% of employees in the digital sector, all positions combined, according to the American Association of University Women.

This phenomenon is even more pronounced in the field of artificial intelligence, where they account for only 22% of the global workforce.

There is therefore an urgent need for action in the real world as well as in fiction, according to Eleanor Drage, a researcher at the Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence at Cambridge University.

"The marginalization of women could contribute to AI products that actively discriminate against women -- as we have seen with past technologies," she said in a statement.

"Given that science fiction shapes reality, this imbalance has the potential to be dangerous as well as unfair."