International Women’s Day: Who are the women most likely to be using AI at work?

International Women’s Rights Day on March 8 provides an opportunity to examine the relationship between women and new technologies, and AI in particular. It turns out that women in tech are seizing the potential of generative artificial intelligence, unlike their counterparts working in other sectors.

So suggests a survey conducted by the strategy consulting firm, Boston Consulting Group, among 6,500 employees working in technology companies based in five different countries worldwide (US, UK, Japan, India and Germany). It reports that more women in senior high-tech positions are using AI at work than their male counterparts.

According to the survey, 75% of them use generative artificial intelligence on the job, according to Fast Company, relaying the findings of the BCG study. In comparison, only 61% of their male colleagues in senior high-tech roles use this technology in the workplace.

However, this phenomenon only concerns women in senior tech positions. Junior women in tech functions don’t make as much use of generative artificial intelligence tools (63%). Conversely, men in junior positions in tech are more likely to use generative AI than their male superiors (70% vs. 61%).

Generally speaking, women who don’t work in tech are still few and far between when it comes to using AI in their day-to-day professional lives. Yet they would do well to do so. Consulting firm McKinsey estimated in a 2023 report that women are 1.5 times more likely than men to have to change jobs as a result of the automation of tasks linked to the development of artificial intelligence.

But this is not inevitable. While generative artificial intelligence has the potential to partially automate – or even eliminate – various jobs, it also offers enormous opportunities for job creation.

So it’s vital that women learn how to use these tools effectively, so that they don’t lose out in the AI revolution, whether they work in tech or not. – AFP Relaxnews