AI and Gender Equality: Ensuring Inclusive Technological Progress for Women

Abstract

Artificial Intelligence (AI), or simulating human thought in a machine, is sometimes called one of the most radical technologies of the 21st century that can resolve problems, make choices, and process languages (Russell and Norvig, 2020). Meantime, women empowerment concept may be defined as a process of empowering women in such a way that they are given equal access to available resources, opportunities, power in making decisions in social, economic, political and even in digital context (Kabeer, 1999). Empowerment in the modern world goes beyond access to education and employment to include representation, participation and security in the rapidly evolving technological ecology. The idea of AI and women empowerment in such a way is really timely today because AI-based technologies are revolutionizing the labor market, health care, types of governance, and communication networks. Unless designed to be inclusive, the new technology will be utilized to its advantage to benefit institutionalized sexism, not curb past gender imbalances, offer one-on-one learning, bring about economic equality and make social spaces significantly safer (UNESCO, 2020). This article aims to critically explain how AI can be and can be a threat to female empowerment, especially in education, health, economic opportunities, and politics. Here we shall discover why we need to develop ethical and gender-sensitive AI models that actually can contribute to ensuring that we have gender equality in the digital age.