Eco-Business: AI can propel women forward - or set them back further
- 3 days ago
- 1 min read
AI will mostly benefit those already well positioned to leverage it – men. Businesses and governments cannot afford to overlook gender as they invest in talent policies for the AI age.
As Singapore celebrates early productivity gains from artificial intelligence, there’s a conversation about trade-offs that should also be taking place: who benefits, who falls behind, and what new divides may form.
Without that discussion, women will bear the brunt of the costs of AI’s adoption while receiving disproportionately fewer gains.
Globally, women are more likely to work in the roles most exposed to advances in AI. The World Economic Forum finds that women are concentrated in functions that involve routine cognitive tasks that AI can already perform. Meanwhile men hold most of the roles in technology, information and media, the very sectors likely to be enhanced - not replaced – by AI.
Without deliberate choices, AI’s upside will accrue to those already positioned to leverage it with the right skills, networks, and geographic mobility – likely men. Meanwhile, too many women will likely watch their roles disappear or careers stall.
