Women ‘twice as likely to lose jobs to AI’ amid warning they could get left behind

Women are being warned they could “get left behind” by advancements in technology after a study revealed they are twice as likely to hold jobs under threat from AI.

The findings showed that female-dominated roles, such as administration, bookkeeping, cashiers, and office staff, are more vulnerable to job loss as a result of automation.

To compound the issue, women were also found to be 20 per cent less likely to engage with generative AI tools than men, making them less likely to work in AI-reliant roles. Currently, only 22 per cent of the people in the global AI talent pool are women, according to the recent AI Gender Gap Report, produced by consulting firm Credera.

Supermums, a social enterprise aimed at helping women break into technology, is now warning that these findings show “a real risk of women getting left behind” as technology continues to advance.

It has been reported that AI is already discriminating against women and other marginalised groups in very real ways, from being put forward for a job to being accepted for a bank loan or even getting the right diagnosis for a serious health problem.

Heather Black, founder of Supermums, which is launching 'The Mums on Cloud Nine' campaign on Thursday in a bid to turn the tide, said mothers in particular face being “the ones paying the price in the rise of AI”.

She said: “Unfortunately, there is a big crossover between roles that mums can do flexibly, from home or part-time, and roles that lend themselves to being automated. Essentially, women, and especially mums, are going to be the ones paying the price in the rise of AI. We need to counteract that by looking at why this is, and how women in these roles can transfer their skills or upskill to protect themselves in the future.

“Women are also more hesitant to use AI, but by understanding it better, there are more opportunities to grow with it, rather than be replaced by it. It’s not just the career side where gaining a better understanding of AI can pay off – there are also many ways to use it to free up time at home. AI is here to stay, whether we personally use it or not, so learning how it works and how to make the most of it is key.”

Generative artificial intelligence could hit as many as 300 million jobs in the coming years, according to Goldman Sachs, with 10-30 per cent of jobs in the UK being highly automatable.

This month, it was revealed that unemployment in Britain has risen to the highest level in close to five years, after Office for National Statistics (ONS) data showed a higher-than-expected rise to five per cent in the three months to September.

And in June, the government reported that almost one million young people aged 16 to 24 are not currently in employment, education or training, in an increase that has been driven by women. In the three-month period before June, the number of so-called “Neets” rose by 24,000 – this can be broken down to a 25,000 increase in women, and a 1,000 drop in men.