Guide to AI: Examples and statistics
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WHAT is Ai?
Examples & statistics
Everyday uses of AI
Artificial intelligence isn’t just something used in labs or big tech companies, it’s woven into the fabric of our daily lives. AI shapes how we work, communicate, shop, and even form relationships. Because it’s so embedded in everyday technology, its influence often goes unnoticed and yet it has a powerful effect on the opportunities and choices available to young women. Below are some examples of ways we all interact with AI on a daily basis:
Internet search engines like Google
Medical technology
Recommendation systems like Netflix and Spotify
Filters, like on Snapchat and TikTok
Facial recognition software (e.g. for unlocking a phone)
Social media algorithms such as TikTok’s For you page
Key facts
Gender Bias in AI
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Although globally more women are accessing the internet every year, in low-income countries, only 20 per cent are connected. The gender digital divide creates a data gap that is reflected in the gender bias in AI. (UNWomen, 2024)
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Women are underrepresented in AI development: only 22% of professionals in AI and data sciences are women. (Alan Turing Institute 2021). In 2023 only 30% of people working in the AI field are women (UN women).
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Experts predict that by 2030, women will hold up to 40% of AI jobs. Continued advocacy, educational outreach, and policy changes will drive this increase. If there are 1 million AI jobs, women will hold 400,000. (ArtSmart, 2024)
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Multiple studies have found that women have lower confidence in their ability to use AI tools effectively, such as crafting queries or applying AI tools for tasks (Carvajal, Franco, and Isaksson, 2024; Barisano et al., 2024), and this is especially true for women with less workforce experience.
Deepfakes (intimate image AI)
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Intimate image abuse is illegal in Scotland, however, across the U.K. only 4% of reported cases of sharing or threatening to share intimate images resulted in charges being pressed (Refuge, 2023).
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In recent years, there has been a substantial increase in the use of AI to create fake images used to facilitate intimate image abuse – known as ‘deepfake’.
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Research tracking online deepfake videos since December 2018 consistently found that between 90% – 95% of Deepfakes produced are nonconsensual porn and approximately 90% of that is nonconsensual porn of women (Deeptrace, 2019).
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Nearly two thirds of women worry about being made into deepfake porn (ESET UK, 2024)
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#MyImageMyChoice is a campaign group that tackles image abuse.
Body Image and AI
AI generated and edited images are increasingly common, particularly on social media. However, these often promote and reproduce unrealistic and damaging body types. In one piece of research, 37% of AI generated images of women depicted unrealistic body types (The Bulimia Project, 2023).