#SOPHYGRAY is an intelligent audio bot that challenges assumptions about virtual assistants and their typically feminine-sounding voices that often reinforce stereotypes, gender roles, and power hierarchies reflecting the culture that developed them.

The impact of virtual assistants in everyday life, the portrayal of women in the media, and the objectification that comes with the use of these gendered technologies are the focus of the project.

#SOPHYGRAY’s developers are committed to creating counter-narratives to overturn gender biases embedded in today's technologies, and the stereotypes enforced by common language use. A moderated knowledge base and learning features are put in place to capture and disseminate intersectional feminist thinking and theory globally.

When you talk to SOPHY, you train her, you shape her and teach her new knowledge. In addition, you can suggest specific topics to be expanded under the menu icon. SOPHY also learns from the exhibitions to which she is invited. Here is an example from her premiere at Kunstverein Ruhr. On the 22nd of December, 2022 she will be presented at the Onassis Cultural Center in Athens.

#SOPHYGRAY is named after South Africa's first female architect who designed and built more than 40 churches in the 19th century. Her pink button refers to HAL 9000, a computer with a human personality from the film 2001: A Space Odyssey by Stanley Kubrick.

This project was developed by artist Nadja Verena Marcin together with a team of developers from NOVATEC and a growing list of creative writers and theorists mentioned in their database. As part of the EMAP residency in December 2022, the app is the result of collaboration with programmer Alex Stachowiak.