So far, leaning into this expertise and neutrality has been relatively simple — prompts to engage, tonal choice, careful pronouns, the written word — as our assistant lives entirely within the digital interface, responsive to ‘your’ voice, but without an audible one of their own. As we break outside of this form, we will have bigger challenges to confront, ones that will thrust the question of gender into the foreground — things like the sound of their voice and even their name — with all of the gender trappings those choices bear. Customer preference tells us strongly to take one path. But their preference doesn’t have to look like our choice. This is one of those areas where having a point of view can drive real change.