Pragya Goswami
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is reshaping the world — from the way we work and communicate to how economies function and grow. For women, especially, this technological revolution carries the potential to unlock unprecedented opportunities — or to reinforce long-standing inequalities.
Economic empowerment, defined as the ability to earn, own, and make financial decisions independently, is one of the most critical areas where AI is making waves. On the one hand, AI can help dismantle traditional barriers by expanding access to education, flexible work, and global markets. On the other, if poorly designed or implemented, AI systems can perpetuate existing gender biases and deepen digital divides.
The choices we make today — in designing, regulating, and deploying AI — will shape the economic futures of millions of women. This article explores both the risks and the promises of AI for women’s economic empowerment.
How AI Can Set Women Back: Key Challenges
The more widely accepted narrative is that AI will have a greater impact on women’s labour and work than men. This will happen through several reasons:
Loss of Traditionally Female-dominated Jobs: AI is replacing many routine jobs, like secretarial work or customer service, where women often make up a large part of the workforce. AI-powered automation is replacing many routine, repetitive, and service-based jobs—areas where women historically hold a large share of employment. These include roles like secretaries, data entry clerks, customer service agents, and call center operators. Chatbots (e.g., ChatGPT, Intercom, Zendesk AI) now handle customer queries 24/7, reducing the need for human customer service reps. Voice Assistants (e.g., Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant) automate scheduling, reminders, and basic clerical tasks once handled by human assistants. Many women in developing countries rely on these entry-level jobs for steady income and losing these jobs can leave many women without stable income sources. When these jobs vanish, they often have fewer alternative employment options, especially without access to reskilling programs.
Widening the Digital Skills Gap: While AI creates new types of jobs, most require technical skills. AI is driving job growth in high-tech, data-centric fields—but these roles demand advanced skills in coding, data science, and AI itself. Many women, especially in rural or low-income regions, lack access to such training due to gender biases in education, limited internet access, and cultural norms. As job markets shift toward AI-related roles, those without technical training fall behind. This deepens the gender digital divide, locking women out of economic mobility and tech innovation.
Less Female Representation in Tech Leadership: Most AI projects are led by men, meaning women’s ideas and needs are often left out when new technologies are built, making AI tools less inclusive. AI systems reflect the values and perspectives of their creators. Since most AI leadership and development teams are male-dominated, there is less focus on issues that disproportionately affect women. for examples, Studies (e.g., MIT Media Lab) found facial recognition bias in systems like Amazon Recognition that performed poorly on women with darker skin due to biased training data. Products fail to serve women’s needs (e.g., safety apps, health AI tools, etc.). A lack of role models and inclusive work cultures discourages women from entering or staying in AI fields.
Mental Health Strain from AI Competition: With AI constantly pushing higher work expectations, women who are already juggling multiple roles (like work and family) may face growing mental health pressures. AI tools enable employers to track performance in real-time, automate workflows, and increase expectations for speed and accuracy. For women—especially those juggling childcare, housework, and jobs—this means more pressure, less flexibility, and rising stress. Workplace surveillance tools (e.g., Time Doctor, Hubstaff) that monitor screen activity, keystrokes, and productivity—often increasing anxiety. AI performance reviews (e.g., SAP SuccessFactors, Workday) use data to judge productivity, which may not capture nuances like caregiving breaks or multitasking. Constant monitoring may increase burnout, especially in hybrid or remote jobs. AI ignores context like domestic labor, putting women at a disadvantage in performance evaluations.
The Positive Power of AI: Opportunities for Women
AI tools can also significantly enhance women’s labour force participation, if leveraged to their full potential. Following are some examples:
Breaking Geographic Barriers: AI based platforms like Upwork, Freelancer, and Fiverr, powered by smart algorithms, are helping women find remote work in fields like graphic design, virtual assistance, writing, and even customer service—regardless of where they live. AI handles everything from matching jobs to managing time zones, making remote work more accessible than ever. As a result, a woman in a small town in Rajasthan or rural Nigeria can now offer her digital marketing skills to clients in the U.S. or Europe, earning in foreign currency without leaving her village.
Creating Safer Workspaces: AI is helping make workplaces safer and address workplace harassment. Companies can use AI-powered tools to monitor communication channels and flag inappropriate behavior or language in real-time. Tools like Spot allow employees to anonymously report harassment, and AI analyzes patterns to identify toxic environments early. This is especially valuable in sectors like hospitality or remote work, where traditional HR oversight may be weak.
Boosting Micro-Entrepreneurship: Micro-entrepreneurship refers to small-scale businesses often run by women with limited capital or resources. AI tools are playing a transformative role by removing many of the traditional barriers like high startup costs, lack of technical know-how, and limited access to marketing or logistics. AI-powered platforms (like Shopify with AI integrations, Wix ADI, or GoDaddy AI) can automatically generate websites, write product descriptions, and suggest layouts—saving time and effort for someone with no coding skills. AI tools like Meta Ads (Facebook/Instagram) or Google Ads use algorithms to target potential customers based on behavior and preferences. The entrepreneur just sets a budget and goal; the AI handles the rest.
Creating Access to Mentorship Without Borders: AI-powered mentorship platforms are revolutionizing how women access guidance and professional networks. Traditionally, mentorship relied on face-to-face interactions, which limited access—especially for women in remote or underserved areas. AI has changed the game by enabling digital platforms that connect aspiring professionals with mentors globally. These platforms use algorithms to match mentees with the right mentors based on their goals, industries, personality types, and skill gaps. AI analyzes a person’s career stage, goals, skills, and preferences, then recommends suitable mentors from around the world.Chatbots and AI tools can offer immediate answers or resources, keeping momentum going between scheduled mentor meetings.: AI tools translate conversations or written guidance, removing language barriers and allowing cross-cultural mentorship.
Enabling Career Comebacks: Many women take breaks in their careers, especially for caregiving, including childcare, eldercare, or health factors. Returning to work can be challenging, especially with rapid changes in technology and workplace expectations—skills may be outdated, confidence may be low, and job opportunities might not align with new life needs. AI-powered job platforms are helping women overcome these hurdles by offering personalized job matches and upskilling opportunities.
- Skill-Based Matching: AI evaluates a candidate’s full profile—past work, transferable skills, recent learning—and matches them with jobs that suit their experience and current capabilities. Many women take career breaks for family reasons, including childcare, eldercare, or health. Returning to work can be challenging—skills may be outdated, confidence may be low, and job opportunities might not align with new life needs. AI-powered job platforms are helping women overcome these hurdles by offering personalized job. Platforms like MentorCruise and ADPList use AI algorithms to pair mentees with mentors based on skills, industry experience, goals, and even personality traits. AI-powered platforms like ReSkillify or The Mom Project help match returning professionals with jobs that fit their skills and life situations. These platforms don’t just post job listings—they analyze a woman’s experience, suggest skill upgrades, and connect her with employers looking for flexible or remote roles.
- Flexibility Filters: Platforms can prioritize roles with flexible hours, remote work, or part-time options based on user preferences.
- Learning Recommendations: If there’s a skill gap, AI recommends online courses or certifications to boost employability before applying. AI-based translation tools (like DeepL or Google Translate AI) break down language barriers for global communication.
Enabling Inclusive Hiring Practices: AI is also transforming recruitment—when designed ethically. Tools like Pymetrics evaluate candidates based on cognitive traits rather than resumes, helping counter unconscious bias and giving women with non-linear career paths a fair chance. However, AI is only as unbiased as the data it learns from. Without regular audits, these tools risk replicating the very discrimination they aim to eliminate.
Recognizing Unpaid Labor: Women around the world perform the majority of unpaid labor—childcare, eldercare, domestic work—that is rarely accounted for in economic statistics or policy-making. Emerging AI-based time-use tracking apps, like TimeUse+, can analyze patterns in daily life to quantify and visualize this labor. When integrated with policymaking or social protection platforms, these tools can help advocate for childcare subsidies, caregiver allowances, or even universal basic income, recognizing the true value of unpaid contributions.
Conclusion: Building a Future That Includes Everyone
AI is not just a technology; it’s a force that’s reshaping our economic and social systems. It can be a powerful tool for women’s empowerment — but only if equity is built into its foundations.Many women are losing jobs, missing out on new ones, and feeling more stressed because of the fast pace AI brings. If we don’t fix these issues, it’s like building the future with only half the team. We need to make sure women have the tools, training, and support to be part of this AI world. That way, AI won’t just be smart—it will also be fair and helpful for everyone.
To make this vision real, we need:
- Inclusive design and leadership in AI development
- Greater access to digital education and infrastructure for women
- Strong policy frameworks to regulate fairness and equity
- Investment in mental health and well-being alongside productivity
Bibliography
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41599-024-04018-w?utm_source=chatgpt.com
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