Kaltura launches AI avatar to expose gender bias at work

Kaltura, the software company, has launched an AI avatar called Equality to help employees and managers spot unconscious bias in everyday workplace conversations and make the organization more inclusive and equitable. The company unveiled the tool for Pride Month, and said it is meant to highlight how routine language can reflect exclusionary thinking even when there is no intent to discriminate.

According to Kaltura, Equality speaks with workers and managers about familiar workplace scenarios and pushes them to examine assumptions and habits in speech that often go unnoticed. The company gave examples such as assuming a female employee has a husband, or telling a worker planning a relocation that he will need to “convince the wife,” comments that can exclude people in same-sex relationships or those whose lives do not fit traditional stereotypes.

The avatar was developed as part of a broader Kaltura effort to study how AI agents and avatars affect equality, diversity and inclusion inside organizations. The company is also examining how digital characters mirror organizational assumptions, for example, avatars that represent leadership or expertise are often designed as male, while service and support characters are designed as female.

Kaltura recently received the Gold Seal from LGBTWORK for promoting gender and sexual equality and diversity in Israeli workplaces. The certification is awarded to organizations that promote inclusive policies, fair hiring processes, training for employees and managers, and ongoing efforts to create a safe and welcoming environment for LGBTQ workers.

Sigal Sarur, Kaltura’s senior vice president of human resources and chair of the Shavot association, said, “When an organization chooses to promote diversity and inclusion throughout the year, it is not only doing the right thing morally, it becomes a much stronger, smarter and more effective organization.” She said Kaltura sees equal opportunity as “a growth engine.”