Digital technology and Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools are now deeply embedded in everyday life, from chatbot assistants for public services to smart homes, online banking, travel planning, entertainment, and social media. Technological innovation is shaped by developers, policies (or the lack thereof), and the broader state of society; in turn, it influences society at an accelerating and still not fully understood pace.
For women, this technological shift carries significant potential. It can expand opportunities in entrepreneurship, create access to emerging and higher-paid industries, and open pathways into traditionally male-dominated sectors such as defence, deep tech, and dual-use technologies.
However, without deliberate efforts to embed equity and fairness in AI model design and development, implement targeted policies that address structural shifts in gender equality, and strengthen public trust in technology, AI could just as quickly erode progress. Such regression would endanger women’s education, career advancement, leadership, safety, and equal participation in society, resulting in substantial losses of both economic and social potential.
This policy brief identifies AI bias & exclusion, digital safety, access & inequality, and governance as problematic areas in the intersection between technology (AI) development, its use and the impact on women.
It advances solutions towards building secure and resilient tech future, while mitigating challenges in the present. These include:
- Maintain human oversight
- Improve data input to limit AI bias
- Implement sensible changes in governance & policy
- Enhance cross-sector cooperation
- Reshape funding & incentives
- Educate, train & inform
- Transform workplace culture & representation
