Last December, the New York Times published an article called Who’s Who Behind the Modern Artificial Intelligence Movement. Featuring top names in tech like Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk in a list of twelve luminary figures in artificial intelligence, there was a glaringly obvious omission: women. Only a week earlier, OpenAI – the pioneering generative AI company behind ChatGPT – announced its new all-male board of directors including Larry Summers, who has previously made problematic claims about women in STEM. Following widespread backlash, OpenAI has since appointed three women as members of an expanded board.
We’re at a crucial crossroads. As we venture further into an innovative yet unfamiliar world unlocked by this new disruptive technology, it’s important that women not only help but shape and lead the AI revolution, which is set to irreversibly change the way we work and live. Although traditionally underrepresented in the tech sector, women’s skills, experiences and expertise in AI is essential to push the boundaries of innovation, ensure diversity of perspective and curb bias in AI.
Women’s talent is still underrepresented in the tech industry
In its 2023 report on gender gaps in the workforce, the World Economic Forum found that there are less women than men working in AI in all major industries – and only 30% of AI talent today is female.
“Closing the gender gap in AI needs to be proactively tackled to mitigate discrimination that may arise from AI algorithms developed through the lens of a uniform set of homogenous, privileged people,” said Jennifer Stirrup, AI thought leader and founder of business intelligence consultancy Data Relish.
“Historically and today, women have been excluded from STEM fields and continue to face systemic barriers, such as gender bias and prejudice, that limit their access and opportunities in AI. These factors contribute to women's lack of representation and visibility in AI,” she said.
Although the number of women in AI roles is growing, progress is extremely slow. From 2016 to 2023, the percentage of women working in AI rose only 4%.
The AI bias problem
In order to produce results, an AI model needs to be trained, an algorithm to follow and data to process. Human bias can creep into machine learning through skewed data or discriminatory algorithms – and when the AI model gets to work at scale, the impact of bias is magnified.
For example, a Carnegie Mellon University analysis of popular generative AI tools Midjourney, DALL-E 2 and Stable Diffusion found “pervasive gender and racial biases” in all three AI tools. When asked to create portraits of people working, both women and Black individuals were severely underrepresented and depicted with stereotypes.
Sabrina Palme is the CEO and co-founder of Palqee, a data governance and AI compliance solutions startup in London. “To ensure AI benefits everyone, it's crucial to include diverse voices throughout its development lifecycle and at the executive level, where decisions about its deployment are made,” she said.
“A major risk with AI is its potential to amplify and introduce biases, affecting the rights and freedoms of those already facing societal inequalities. AI bias is not a rare occasion.”
A McKinsey study found that more than half (55%) of executives experienced an incident where active AI produced incorrect or biased outcomes, which resulted in financial losses, damaged brand trust and diminished employee confidence in AI.
“Not only does the overrepresentation by one group of people (which is majority white and male) increase the risk of AI bias, but it also stifles innovation due to a lack of different perspectives and approaches – which is why it’s essential to have more women involved in AI,” Sabrina said.
Fighting discrimination with diversity
In addition to building a more equitable workforce and representative future, digital trust is key to growth. The same McKinsey research found that digital-trust leaders (companies who follow codified data, AI, and general ethics policies) are outperforming their peers and far more likely to see revenue and EBIT growth rates of 10% or more.
So how can senior leaders ensure that AI is most effective for their organisation? “Addressing the gender gap in AI requires tackling gender bias and discrimination through diversity and inclusion training and raising awareness of women's contributions to AI,” said Jennifer. “Male allies will need to help amplify their voices in the field, promote more inclusive recruitment, retention and recognition initiatives,” she recommended.
“Treat diversity as a business opportunity and as part of your growth strategy,” advised Sabrina. “Don’t treat DE&I as a second thought or a ‘company initiative’ and don’t use the lack of skilled people from underrepresented groups as an excuse.”
Let's make our own list
Although we’ve seen women pioneers overlooked for their groundbreaking contributions to AI and despite there being so many fewer women in the field, AI as we know it today would not be possible without the innovations of women over the last several decades.
That’s why we’re shining a light on today’s trailblazers who are building the future of AI.
1. Mira Murati - As Chief Technology Officer of the world’s largest generative AI company OpenAI, Mira is responsible for delivering some of the most innovative AI tech today including ChatGPT, DALL-E, and GPT-4.
2. Timnit Gebru - A pioneer in AI ethics research, Timnit is the founder of the Distributed Artificial Intelligence Research Institute and known for highlighting the discrimination risks of facial recognition tech at Google.
3. Helen Yu - CEO and founder of Tigon Advisory Corp, Helen enables the digital transformation and hypergrowth of companies to the multibillions, through the use of AI.
4. Dr Wafa Johal - A senior lecturer at the University of Melbourne, Dr Wafa is pushing the boundaries of human-robot interaction, enabling the use of tangible robots for education and rehabilitation.
5. Mutale Nkonde - Mutale is the CEO of AI for the People, a not-for-profit with the aim to eliminate bias in AI and increase Black voices in tech.
Who else should be on our list? Let us know in the comments below.
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