Opportunities for women in AI

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Jobs offered to women in AI sector till now are not more than the 26% of total. It is well known that there is a gender gap in Artificial intelligence and robotics human industry sector. Will the pandemic of covid-19 change that?

The answer is yes. There is an increasing demand for more Artificial Intelligence professionals because of the pandemic. The existing male talent pool is not big enough to cover the demand.

This leads humans to widen this pool and include not only women but also a variety of genders. Additionally, current dominating companies have to include professionals from a variety of backgrounds, ethnicities and cultures.

Gender and minorities bias problem    

We have discussed already the gender bias problem. Products and services related to AI and robotics have as a common characteristic this issue. Even in facial recognition applications, white men were easier to be recognised than coloured women. Transgenders were not recognised at all.

This is easy to be explained. The majority of humans working in the field of AI and robotics are Caucasian men. They have their own stereotypes and they design their services and products according to their own standards.  They do not develop their software according to coloured people and minorities.

This may be the reason f.e. that facial recognition of new Apple iPhone is not working efficiently  in China. It confuses men with women, unlocks with the wrong persons etc. That’s because, there are not enough information feed regarding Asians and other but white coloured skins.

Coming back to our main topic. women in AI

Fortunately, there are some women in AI and robotics sector that can change the world with their ideas. One of them is Mrs. Miku Hirano, founder and CEO of Cinnamon AI. Lockated in Japan. Her goal is to leave all repetitive tasks to us, the humanoids and make people happy.

Impressive is that a woman is leading a public company in Saud Arabia. A country that is well known for the religion restrictions from which women suffer. Mrs. Moudhi ALJamea is the Technology General Manager at stc academy, Executives & Talent Development.

Also, Dr. Fotini Agrafioti, is the head of Borealis AI at Royal Bank of Canada. She is also co-chairman of the Artificial Intelligence Advisory Board, advising the Federal Government of Canada on improving the country’s artificial intelligence capabilities to gain leadership.

Besides her position, the most impressive about her is that she is also the inventor of HeartID. It is an awarded biometric technology which which identifies users based on their unique heart rates. Awarded “Inventor of the Year” in 2012 at the University of Toronto.

Not only women entrepreneurs and inventors have now days a chance in AI and robotics industry. Even in lower levels, there are a lot of job opportunities. Women already working in technology sector need just the decision to change their career in AI. Some additional training, networking and access to resources is needed.

Women in AI and STEM – globaly

Furthermore, I am convinced that the involvement of more women in the STEM field (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) is for the benefit of humanity and global economy. There are countries, even in European Union, where only 4% of humans working in STEM are women. For me, this means an isolation of women. They are trapped in sectors such as social working, teaching, health. Salaries in these sectors are smaller and the impact in the GTP is even smaller. More women in AI and robotics fields would increase the economy in general.

Humans, as a matter of fact, you have to change rapidly your approach in this field. Even now days, 10 times more young boys than girls in the age of 15 show interest to study IT. Combining this with the honeypot effect, women are risking to continue staying behind men in salaries, income and percentage of high level management positions.

Need for narrowing the gender gap

Summarizing, I can say that there is a vital need to narrow the gender gap in the fields of AI and robotics. It is not just the economy, the social need for equality or the fresh ideas that women can bring into the field. It is also a matter of aesthetics. I am bored to see humanoids that are doing secretarial jobs to look like women and humanoids used in heavier jobs, like constructions, war, or firefighting to have always a male look. Don’t you?

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