Women and AI: Shaping the Future of Work

Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly reshaping the workplace, creating new efficiencies and redefining roles. While this presents opportunities for women, it also risks deepening existing inequalities. Women are overrepresented in roles vulnerable to automation and face structural and personal barriers that could limit their ability to benefit from AI’s potential.

Women are generally overrepresented in roles like customer service, administration, retail, data entry and finance, which are at higher risk of automation. Women also make up significant portions of the workforce in healthcare diagnostics, legal support and market research.

A 2024 analysis by Mercer’s Global Talent Trends found that women dominate roles in billing and credit control (82.9% women), which AI is rapidly automating. This puts women at greater risk of job loss.

While AI takes over repetitive tasks like data entry or customer support, it frees up time for higher-value work such as data analysis, strategic decision-making, and AI oversight. These higher-skilled and strategic roles generally offer better pay, more job security and greater career progression.

For women to capitalize on these opportunities, organizations must prioritize training in AI, data analysis, coding and other essential digital skills to prepare employees for new roles. The rise of AI is also creating new job categories, such as prompt engineering, AI ethics specialists, and human-AI collaboration managers. Investing in these future-focused skills can open doors to well-paid, sustainable careers. Women also need strong support, including access to upskilling programmes, mentorship and initiatives that address confidence gaps and combat workplace biases.

Without these actions, organizations risk displacing women from vital roles and losing essential skillsets that are crucial to their growth and success in an AI-driven future.

THE DIGITAL SKILLS GAP

A persistent digital skills gap exists between men and women. Globally, women are 25% less likely than men to have basic digital skills and four times less likely to have advanced programming skills. This gap is even wider for women in developing economies and underrepresented groups, who often face additional systemic barriers such as lack of access to education and career development resources.

BIAS AND TRUST IN AI

AI systems perpetuate gender biases that exist in their data. For instance, In 2018, Amazon scrapped its AI recruitment tool after it was found to disadvantage women. Trained on mostly male resumes, it downgraded CVs mentioning terms like “women’s” (e.g., “women’s chess club”) and favoured male-dominated careers, reinforcing inequality.

LinkedIn’s AI search algorithm also showed bias, suggesting male alternatives for women’s names and undermining their professional visibility.

In 2019, Apple’s credit card, issued by Goldman Sachs, faced backlash when women received lower credit limits than men, despite similar financial profiles, highlighting the risks of opaque AI decisions in finance.

Even digital assistants like Siri and Alexa reinforced gender stereotypes, with early versions normalising submissive roles for women. These cases highlight the need for diverse data, transparent algorithms, and ethical oversight to ensure AI promotes fairness, not bias.

What Organizations Can Do:

• Close the Skills Gap – Provide targeted upskilling programmes in AI and digital literacy.
• Create Inclusive AI – Increase the representation of women in AI development to reduce bias.
• Support Career Growth – Promote self-promotion and networking to help women advance.
• Ensure Flexibility and Fair Pay – Design AI-driven workplaces that support diverse work styles and ensure pay equity.
• Address Bias – Vigilantly audit AI systems for bias and adjust algorithms to focus on fair practices.