Artificial intelligence is increasingly heralded as a key part of humanity’s future. But we need to recognise that, as things currently stand, AI risks leaving women behind. Right now, men far outstrip women in terms of AI industry talent (especially at the senior management level), AI research and even consumer AI adoption.
This is concerning in light of the hopes that so many women have for AI to serve as a levelling – if not empowering – force for them in the marketplace. Will AI accelerate women’s rise to leadership, or will it reinforce the very barriers we seek to dismantle? The answer, as with most transformative technologies, is that it depends entirely on the choices we make today.
The opportunities AI can present to level the playing field for women in leadership are clear. Consider the recruitment process – traditionally a gatekeeping mechanism where unconscious bias has long limited women’s advancement. AI-driven screening tools, when properly designed, can evaluate candidates based purely on qualifications and potential, bypassing the subtle prejudices that have kept talented women from corner offices and boardrooms.
The numbers are encouraging. Studies show that well-designed AI recruitment systems have successfully increased the hiring of female managers and reduced gender discrimination in leadership selection. By focusing on competencies rather than stereotypes, these tools can identify leadership potential that human recruiters might overlook.
Beyond hiring, AI offers women flexible ways to skill development through personalised learning platforms, virtual mentorship programmes and global networking opportunities. Yet, perhaps most powerfully, AI platforms can amplify women’s voices in ways previously unimaginable. Data-driven insights can illuminate once-invisible workplace inequities, providing the evidence needed to drive policy change. Advocacy becomes more effective when supported by irrefutable patterns and trends.
However, we must be clear-eyed about the risks. AI is not neutral; it reflects the biases embedded in its training data and the assumptions of its creators. When AI systems learn from historical data that reflects decades of gender inequality, they can perpetuate – and even amplify – those same biases. An algorithm trained on past promotion decisions may learn to replicate discriminatory patterns, presenting them as objective truth.
As the nature of work is transformed due to new technologies, gender-based stereotypes can also pose a risk to women’s advancement. The narrative that women don't belong in technology is both pervasive and demonstrably false. Yet it persists, shaping everything from childhood education to corporate culture. Young girls receive subtle and not-so-subtle messages that technology is a masculine domain, while women in the field face the exhausting reality of constantly proving their technical credibility.
The irony is particularly bitter when we consider history. Ada Lovelace, widely regarded as the world’s first computer programmer, envisioned the potential of computing machines beyond mere calculation in the 1840s – a full century before the first modern computers were built. During the Second World War, teams of women mathematicians laid the groundwork for modern computing. Grace Hopper revolutionised programming with her development of the first compiler. Ida Rhodes, in the 1960s, laid the groundwork for natural language processing.
When AI systems learn from historical data that reflects decades of gender inequality, they can perpetuate – and even amplify – those same biases
Yet these contributions have been systematically minimised or erased from popular narratives about technology’s origins. This historical amnesia compounds present-day challenges. When women’s foundational contributions to computing remain invisible, the stereotype that technology is inherently masculine becomes self-reinforcing. Women who might otherwise pursue careers in AI lack role models and the sense of belonging that comes from seeing themselves reflected in the field’s history.
Today’s statistics paint a sobering picture of women’s representation in AI. According to research by Interface, analysing nearly 1.6 million AI professionals worldwide, women comprise only 22 per cent of AI talent globally. The numbers become even more concerning at senior levels, where women occupy less than 14 per cent of senior executive roles in AI.
In academic and research settings, the disparities are equally stark. Women make up only 18 per cent of authors at leading AI conferences, and just 16 per cent of tenure-track faculty who research AI. A Unesco report confirms these findings, noting that women represent only about one third of researchers in science broadly, with AI showing even more pronounced gaps. Interestingly, it has also been suggested that about 23 per cent of those heading up AI innovation are women.
The World Economic Forum reports that the percentage of male graduates in information and communication technologies is 400 per cent higher than women graduates. This pipeline problem perpetuates the cycle: with women making up only 20 per cent of new faculty hires and 20 per cent of AI-related PhD recipients, the numbers aren’t likely to improve soon without intervention.
Perhaps most concerning is the usage gap. Between November 2022 and May 2024, women made up only 42 per cent of ChatGPT’s 200 million average monthly users. The gender gap widens further with smartphone applications, where only 27 per cent of ChatGPT app downloads came from women. Research from Harvard Business School found that across 18 studies involving more than 140,000 people, women’s adoption of AI tools was 10 to 40 per cent smaller than men’s, with the best estimate showing a 25 per cent gap.
This underrepresentation in AI development itself compounds the bias problem. When the teams designing AI systems are predominantly male, blind spots become inevitable. Perspectives that might catch gender bias go unheard. Solutions that could benefit women leaders remain unconsidered. This is not merely about fairness – it’s about the quality and inclusivity of the AI systems being built to shape our collective future.
The automation threat looms particularly large for women. Research indicates that women are overrepresented in roles most susceptible to AI-driven displacement. This vulnerability breeds anxiety, which in turn can create a self-fulfilling prophecy: women who are anxious about AI may be less likely to engage with AI-driven leadership opportunities, further widening the gap. Studies show that women are also more likely than men to question the ethics of using AI tools, which should be seen as a very valuable perspective for the design of AI tools.
The question is not whether AI will shape women’s leadership – it will. The question is whether we will shape AI to support gender equity or allow it to calcify existing inequalities.
This requires deliberate action on multiple fronts. We need to ensure women participate not just as AI users but as AI creators and decision-makers. Educational programmes must actively recruit and support women in technical fields, and mentorship initiatives must connect aspiring female leaders with those who have navigated similar journeys. Women who are already shaping the AI landscape must be platformed, because they deserve it, but also because to increase the number of women in AI we must feel like we might belong.
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
UAE%20v%20West%20Indies
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How to avoid crypto fraud
- Use unique usernames and passwords while enabling multi-factor authentication.
- Use an offline private key, a physical device that requires manual activation, whenever you access your wallet.
- Avoid suspicious social media ads promoting fraudulent schemes.
- Only invest in crypto projects that you fully understand.
- Critically assess whether a project’s promises or returns seem too good to be true.
- Only use reputable platforms that have a track record of strong regulatory compliance.
- Store funds in hardware wallets as opposed to online exchanges.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The years Ramadan fell in May
The team
Photographer: Mateusz Stefanowski at Art Factory
Videographer: Jear Valasquez
Fashion director: Sarah Maisey
Make-up: Gulum Erzincan at Art Factory
Model: Randa at Art Factory Videographer’s assistant: Zanong Magat
Photographer’s assistant: Sophia Shlykova
With thanks to Jubail Mangrove Park, Jubail Island, Abu Dhabi
What can victims do?
Always use only regulated platforms
Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion
Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)
Report to local authorities
Warn others to prevent further harm
Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence
ESSENTIALS
The flights
Fly Etihad or Emirates from the UAE to Moscow from 2,763 return per person return including taxes.
Where to stay
Trips on the Golden Eagle Trans-Siberian cost from US$16,995 (Dh62,414) per person, based on two sharing.
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Specs
Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
Range: 400km
Power: 134bhp
Torque: 175Nm
Price: From Dh98,800
Available: Now
Emirates Cricket Board Women’s T10
ECB Hawks v ECB Falcons
Monday, April 6, 7.30pm, Sharjah Cricket Stadium
The match will be broadcast live on the My Sports Eye Facebook page
Hawks
Coach: Chaitrali Kalgutkar
Squad: Chaya Mughal (captain), Archara Supriya, Chamani Senevirathne, Chathurika Anand, Geethika Jyothis, Indhuja Nandakumar, Kashish Loungani, Khushi Sharma, Khushi Tanwar, Rinitha Rajith, Siddhi Pagarani, Siya Gokhale, Subha Srinivasan, Suraksha Kotte, Theertha Satish
Falcons
Coach: Najeeb Amar
Squad: Kavisha Kumari (captain), Almaseera Jahangir, Annika Shivpuri, Archisha Mukherjee, Judit Cleetus, Ishani Senavirathne, Lavanya Keny, Mahika Gaur, Malavika Unnithan, Rishitha Rajith, Rithika Rajith, Samaira Dharnidharka, Shashini Kaluarachchi, Udeni Kuruppuarachchi, Vaishnave Mahesh
Dhadak 2
Director: Shazia Iqbal
Starring: Siddhant Chaturvedi, Triptii Dimri
Rating: 1/5
COMPANY PROFILE
Company name: Blah
Started: 2018
Founder: Aliyah Al Abbar and Hend Al Marri
Based: Dubai
Industry: Technology and talent management
Initial investment: Dh20,000
Investors: Self-funded
Total customers: 40
Related
PROFILE OF HALAN
Started: November 2017
Founders: Mounir Nakhla, Ahmed Mohsen and Mohamed Aboulnaga
Based: Cairo, Egypt
Sector: transport and logistics
Size: 150 employees
Investment: approximately $8 million
Investors include: Singapore’s Battery Road Digital Holdings, Egypt’s Algebra Ventures, Uber co-founder and former CTO Oscar Salazar
Test squad: Azhar Ali (captain), Abid Ali, Asad Shafiq, Babar Azam, Haris Sohail, Imam-ul-Haq, Imran Khan, Iftikhar Ahmed, Kashif Bhatti, Mohammad Abbas, Mohammad Rizwan(wicketkeeper), Musa Khan, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Afridi, Shan Masood, Yasir Shah
Twenty20 squad: Babar Azam (captain), Asif Ali, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Sohail, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imad Wasim, Imam-ul-Haq, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Hasnain, Mohammad Irfan, Mohammad Rizwan (wicketkeeper), Musa Khan, Shadab Khan, Usman Qadir, Wahab Riaz
ALRAWABI%20SCHOOL%20FOR%20GIRLS
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Destroyer
Director: Karyn Kusama
Cast: Nicole Kidman, Toby Kebbell, Sebastian Stan
Rating: 3/5
UAE release: January 31
Company%20Profile
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EName%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EDirect%20Debit%20System%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Sept%202017%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20UAE%20with%20a%20subsidiary%20in%20the%20UK%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EIndustry%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20FinTech%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFunding%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Undisclosed%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Elaine%20Jones%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ENumber%20of%20employees%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%208%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Springtime in a Broken Mirror,
Mario Benedetti, Penguin Modern Classics
Children who witnessed blood bath want to help others
Aged just 11, Khulood Al Najjar’s daughter, Nora, bravely attempted to fight off Philip Spence. Her finger was injured when she put her hand in between the claw hammer and her mother’s head.
As a vital witness, she was forced to relive the ordeal by police who needed to identify the attacker and ensure he was found guilty.
Now aged 16, Nora has decided she wants to dedicate her career to helping other victims of crime.
“It was very horrible for her. She saw her mum, dying, just next to her eyes. But now she just wants to go forward,” said Khulood, speaking about how her eldest daughter was dealing with the trauma of the incident five years ago. “She is saying, 'mama, I want to be a lawyer, I want to help people achieve justice'.”
Khulood’s youngest daughter, Fatima, was seven at the time of the attack and attempted to help paramedics responding to the incident.
“Now she wants to be a maxillofacial doctor,” Khulood said. “She said to me ‘it is because a maxillofacial doctor returned your face, mama’. Now she wants to help people see themselves in the mirror again.”
Khulood’s son, Saeed, was nine in 2014 and slept through the attack. While he did not witness the trauma, this made it more difficult for him to understand what had happened. He has ambitions to become an engineer.
A list of the animal rescue organisations in the UAE
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cyl turbo
Power: 247hp at 6,500rpm
Torque: 370Nm from 1,500-3,500rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 7.8L/100km
Price: from Dh94,900
On sale: now
Pakistan T20 series squad
Sarfraz Ahmed (captain), Fakhar Zaman, Ahmed Shahzad, Babar Azam, Shoaib Malik, Mohammed Hafeez, Imad Wasim, Shadab Khan, Mohammed Nawaz, Faheem Ashraf, Hasan Ali, Amir Yamin, Mohammed Amir (subject to fitness clearance), Rumman Raees, Usman Shinwari, Umar Amin
