AI May Disproportionately Impact Working Women

By Susan Lindeque, CEO, Avestix 

A new study reveals women workers may be more vulnerable to being phased out by artificial intelligence (AI) than their male counterparts, especially those working in high-income locales. 

Generative AI and Jobs: A Refined Global Index of Occupational Exposure found that 1 in 4 jobs worldwide are likely to be affected by advancements in generative artificial intelligence, but it will be female workers who are more impacted by AI displacement. 

While the report — released by the United Nations’ International Labour Organization (ILO) and Poland’s National Research Institute (NASK) — found that about one-fourth of jobs worldwide are vulnerable to AI, that share jumps to 34 percent for workers in higher-income countries. Meanwhile, many of the tasks now assigned to women in high-income regions are already being automated.

“In high-income countries, jobs at the highest risk of automation make up 9.6 percent of female employment — a stark contrast to 3.5 percent of such jobs among men,” says the ILO. 

This is not entirely surprising, nor is it necessarily the final word on the future employment picture. As I recently told The World Financial Review, “AI could mean the elimination of millions of roles around the world during the next five years, but business investments in artificial intelligence are also expected to result in 78 million net-new positions over the next five years.” 

So, which roles does the ILO say could be in jeopardy due to AI, and why does the report conclude women will be predominantly displaced?
“Clerical jobs face the highest exposure of all, due to GenAI’s theoretical ability to automate many of their tasks,” says the report, which specifically mentions that jobs in media, software and finance may also be at risk. 

The good news is that this job elimination is not expected to hit instantly. The study suggests that a slow-moving evolution is more likely. 

“We stress that such [AI] exposure does not imply the immediate automation of an entire occupation, but rather the potential for a large share of its current tasks to be performed using this technology,” says the report.  

Women in AI, a $212B Opportunity 

The fact that nearly 10 percent of jobs currently performed by women could be in jeopardy due to AI suggests that an already unfair job market may get even worse. However, this projection can be rewritten if more women were involved in developing and deploying AI. 

Consider these recent findings:

• 71 percent of AI-skilled workers are men, while only 29 percent are women

• Only about one-third of women have been invited by their employers to use AI, compared with two-fifths of men. 

• 75 percent of companies are now adopting AI

With three-fourths of organizations building out their AI platforms while ensuring less than one-third of women employees are AI-fluent, it is understandable that AI may inadvertently favor male workers.   

Earlier this year, I shared data confirming women in STEM careers not only have to clear a higher educational bar than men, but, once employed, they also earn significantly less than their male colleagues. 

I also spotlighted the work of The AI Forward Alliance (TAIFA), which was actively training and recruiting more women into the AI industry. The goal, according to the TAIFA, is to “unlock a staggering $212 billion for the global economy.” 

Not only will bringing more women into AI help incubate the next generation of female role models and mentors in technology, but it will encourage greater economic independence for women, while helping to “normalize” women in leadership roles in the tech industry

Yes, as it stands, 1-in-10 women could lose their jobs to AI in the years to come; however, thanks to the efforts of TAFIA and others to make women more AI-fluent, we may also be on the cusp of seeing more women helping shape the future of artificial intelligence.   

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