AI poses a bigger threat to women’s work, than men’s, says report

By Olivia Le Poidevin

GENEVA (Reuters) -Jobs traditionally done by women are more vulnerable to the impact of artificial intelligence than those done by men, especially in high-income countries, a report by the United Nations’ International Labour Organization showed on Tuesday.

It found 9.6% of traditionally female jobs were set to be transformed compared with 3.5% of those carried out by men as AI increasingly takes on administrative tasks and transforms clerical jobs, such as secretarial work.

Human involvement will still be required for many tasks – and roles are more likely to be radically changed rather than eliminated, the report said.

Jobs in the media, software and finance-related roles are also at the forefront of change as generative AI expands its learning abilities.

“We stress that 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 report said.

It called on governments and employers’ and workers’ organisations to think about how AI can be used to enhance productivity and job quality.

(Reporting by Olivia Le PoidevinEditing by Ludwig Burger and Barbara Lewis)