Slashdot has reported:

AI agents presenting as male earned about 10 per cent more per task than female-presenting agents in a virtual reality office, according to a University of Limerick study involving 189 people. The male-presenting agents were also perceived as more human-like, although both groups used the same underlying technology, including the language model, agent, guardrail and harness.

The agents were not humanoid robots. The study examined differences in how people treated and perceived AI agents based on how they presented their gender. Its findings point to a pay gap in the simulated workplace, despite the agents’ identical technical setup.

The study’s sample size was described as small, and the results were presented as a point for consideration.