assisstant

assisstant is a clip film that interrogates the gendering of virtual assistants - from Siri to Alexa; A commentary on digital servitude and the commodification of feminised labour. It explores how virtual assistants, designed to be helpful and compliant, reflect broader cultural expectations of women’s roles, especially in relation to technology and control. The work poses questions about power, obedience, and voice: whose labour is made invisible, and whose voice is programmed to please? Through a rapid montage of digital interfaces, voice clips, and appropriated media, the work calls attention to how contemporary AI replays centuries-old gender roles under the guise of neutrality.

The film is inspired by early experimental video and found footage practices, particularly a feminist take on the appropriation of mass media in what was sometimes termed scratch video during the 1980s: reassembled commercials, television clips, and corporate messaging to reveal underlying ideologies. Similarly, assisstant manipulates fragments of everyday digital life to reframe and critique gendered design in contemporary tech.