AI Displacement Poses Greater Risk to Female Employment: Key Positions at Risk
Artificial Intelligence (AI) may fundamentally reshape the workforce, with a disorderly impact on women's jobs, according to a study by the International Labour Organization (ILO).
The report, which assessed the risk of job replacement or transformation due to AI, predicts that 25% of jobs worldwide will be affected by the technology. Notably, women in high-income countries are more likely to be in jobs at risk of automation, with 9.6% of female employment positions exposed compared to 3.5% among men.
The ILO categorized jobs into different "exposure gradients," showing that female employment is more concentrated in roles with a higher potential for automation or transformation. Five-point-seven percent of female roles were rated to have significant exposure, and another 4.7% were in the category with the highest exposure.
On the contrary, the report indicates that full automation remains limited, with jobs like cleaners, garbage collectors, creative performers, and dentists facing a lower risk of automation. In high-risk professions such as data-entry clerks, typists, statistical or finance clerks, bookkeeping clerks, financial analysts, and administrative roles, AI may take over many tasks, posing a risk to job security.
"This tool helps countries around the world assess potential exposure and prepare their labor markets for a fairer digital future," said Janine Berg, Senior Economist at the ILO, in a statement.
Concerns about AI's impact on women in the workforce are not new. Last year, a quarter of workers expressed fear that AI would drive women out of the workforce, while recent research indicated that women were half as likely as men to feel prepared to adapt to AI. Coursera's research also showed that women made up less than a third of those taking AI skills training.
In response, organizations can adopt strategies that combine human and artificial intelligence, thus ensuring workforce resilience and adaptability. Distinguishing between job augmentation and automation is also crucial to preserve human labor in job markets.
- The International Labour Organization (ILO) study suggests that cybersecurity, a technology-driven field, may provide a better job prospect for women, given its lower automation risk as compared to other high-risk professions.
- In the realm of health-and-wellness, women's-health practitioners, due to their human-centric tasks, seem to have a lower risk of automation.
- As the workplace-wellness landscape evolves, incorporating elements of lifestyle, business, and technology, the need for human intervention and adaptability, rather than full automation, becomes increasingly relevant.
- Furthermore, the finance industry, which typically requires analytical and human-related skills, could serve as another area where women can find job security, given the perspective that AI may take over only specific tasks.
- In the realm of general-news, the discussion surrounding AI's impact on women's employment, and the need for workforce preparation in high-risk job sectors, continues to gain prominence in the scientific, health-and-wellness, and lifestyle domains.
