Women4Ethical AI: the Unesco project to counter discrimination in artificial intelligence

“Women4Ethical AI” is the platform promoted by Unesco to launch gender equality within Artificial Intelligence.

“Women4Ethical AI”, the tech world belongs to women too

This platform fits into the “Unesco Recommendations on the ethics of Artificial Intelligence“, i.e. the first regulatory instrument dedicated to this sector and adopted unanimously by the Member States in 2021.

This is a necessary step forward for the reduction of the gender gap in the tech sector, since, just as technologies make giant strides, it becomes important to put women in the position to be able to see their needs be taken into consideration by AI

Indeed, as stated in the document “women are underrepresented in both the research and design of these technologies. Their needs and experiences are also overlooked by designers, and the data used to train AI is often biased against women and girls.”

In reality, however, it is not just about the needs of the female world, perpetually neglected by artificial intelligences. It is about something bigger, which could open several doors to the professionals of tomorrow.

In fact, it has been shown that globally, women have the 25% less chance of being able to acquire the necessary skills to use new technologies. The percentage drops if we count female programmers or those who have obtained an ICT patent.

In short, the female presence is underrepresented in the tech sector, making it essential to create a platform like “Women4Ethical AI”, which brings together 17 experts who will have to share research and create an archive with some practices to follow to make their way in the world of IT and AI in particular.

“Thanks to this network of dynamic and committed women – she said Gabriela Ramos, Deputy Director General for Social Sciences and Human Rights of Unesco and Co-President of the platform – we will make real progress in ensuring inclusive and equitable outcomes in artificial intelligence, as set out in the Unesco Recommendation on the Ethics of AI”.