Only 22% of AI professionals globally are women
While much of the public debate around AI focuses on potential threats to humanity in the future, urgent consequences are already unfolding today for women and girls, which is reinforcing existing inequalities, UN Women says launching a report called Gender Snapshot 2026 in connection with the UN’s general assembly.
The organisation says that these inequalities are already reflected in women’s participation in the rapidly expanding AI economy – from the workforce and leadership to access to the technology itself.
According to the latest Gender Snapshot 2026, women account for only around 22% of artificial intelligence professionals globally and hold fewer than 14% of senior leadership positions. Women are also around 20%less likely than men to use generative artificial intelligence tools, the report claims.
“The future of AI cannot be built by half the world’s talent. As artificial intelligence reshapes economies, societies and daily life, women’s equal participation is crucial to its design, governance and regulation£, says Sarah Hendriks, Director of Policy, Programme and Intergovernmental Support at UN Women.
“ If women are excluded, the inequalities of today risk becoming embedded in the systems of tomorrow.”.
The report says AI also poses risks for women and girls in other areas.
“AI is increasing the scale, speed and severity of technology-facilitated violence against women and girls, while reinforcing gender stereotypes and structural discrimination, especially for women in public life.”
The report says an UN Women study shows that almost one in four incidents of online violence against women human rights defenders, activists and journalists involved the use of AI.
“Women are also more exposed to the potential disruption of generative AI in the workplace. According to the International Labour Organization (ILO), occupations dominated by women are almost twice as likely to be exposed to generative AI as those dominated by men”, the UN Women report says.
At the United Nations General Assembly in New York, UN Women is calling on governments, development partners and technology companies to strengthen safeguards and regulation of AI, ensure women’s equal participation in AI development and decision-making, and address the risks that these technologies pose to women and girls.
The report covers various equality issues and says that six out of seven countries in the world are led by a man.
“At the current rate of change, gender parity in national parliaments will not happen for another 63 years – meaning most of us will not live to see it.
“Business as usual means equal rights and opportunities for women and girls, in all areas of their lives, will not be achieved for another 171 years.”
“In terms of business and leadership investments more broadly, in 2024, all-women founding teams received just 2.3% of global venture capital, compared to 83.6% for all-male teams. For Black and Latina women founders in the United States, it was 0.1% of venture capital in 2023.
“As AI increasingly shapes economies, public services, and everyday life, women’s equal participation in its development, governance, and regulation would be a game-changer in mitigating risks such as algorithmic bias and digital violence against women and girls. It would mean creating technology that works better for all of us”, the report says.
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