This short article is written by CHANDRANI CHAKRABORTY, Legal Research scholar, Motherhood University, Roorkee, Uttarakhand.
Abstract
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is increasingly embedded in social, economic, and political systems. Yet its development and deployment are marked by persistent gender disparities. Women are systematically underrepresented in AI research, policymaking, and corporate leadership, while at the same time facing disproportionate harms from algorithmic bias. This paper interrogates the gendered dimensions of AI through three interlinked themes: (1) women’s participation in AI development, (2) gendered impacts of AI systems, and (3) governance frameworks for inclusive innovation. It traces the historical and structural factors that have led to the underrepresentation of women in science and technology, including educational inequalities, workplace discrimination, and unpaid care work. It then examines how biased training data, opaque algorithms, and unregulated deployment produce discriminatory outcomes in fields such as healthcare, recruitment, predictive policing, and content moderation. Using case studies from the European Union, India, and international organizations, the paper assesses current policy responses and highlights their limitations in addressing systemic inequities. It argues for a feminist framework of AI governance grounded in intersectional data audits, participatory design, algorithmic transparency, and substantive representation of women as co-creators of technology. Such an approach moves beyond tokenistic inclusion and reframes women not as vulnerable subjects but as active producers of AI knowledge. By centering gender justice in AI ecosystems, policymakers can ensure that technological innovation advances substantive equality and human rights rather than reproducing old hierarchies in new digital forms.
Keywords: Women; Artificial Intelligence; Algorithmic Bias; Feminist Technology; Digital Rights; AI Governance; Gender Justice.
