AI threatens more women’s jobs than men’s, new report finds

AI is increasingly transforming traditionally female-dominated occupations, with administrative and clerical roles facing the most significant changes, according to a new UN report. This gender disparity in AI’s workplace impact highlights how technological advancement is creating uneven effects across different demographic groups, raising important questions about training needs and potential economic inequalities in the AI era.

The big picture: Women’s jobs are almost three times more vulnerable to AI transformation than men’s, especially in high-income countries, according to the International Labour Organization’s latest findings.

• Female-dominated roles face 9.6% transformation rates compared to just 3.5% for traditionally male jobs as AI increasingly handles administrative tasks.
• The impact will likely manifest as radical job transformation rather than wholesale elimination, with human involvement still required for many tasks.

Key sectors affected: Media, software development, and finance-related positions are at the forefront of AI-driven workplace changes as generative AI capabilities continue expanding.

• These industries are experiencing particularly high exposure to AI transformation due to the technology’s growing sophistication in handling information-based tasks.

What they’re saying: “Such exposure does not imply the immediate automation of an entire occupation, but rather the potential for a large share of its current tasks to be performed using this technology,” the ILO report stated.

Where we go from here: The ILO recommends governments and organizations develop strategies to harness AI for enhancing both productivity and job quality rather than simply replacing workers.

• This approach would require collaborative planning between policymakers, employers, and worker representatives to ensure AI adoption benefits all stakeholders.