International Women’s Day 2024: How women in artificial intelligence are breaking stereotypes

In the two years that Prishi Jain has started using Artificial Intelligence in her work as an industrial designer, she has seen it change by leaps and bounds, not only from the software perspective but also from the view of the workforce. The Pune-based designer has seen more women make use of Artificial Intelligence in their work than ever before. Interestingly, these are not traditional jobs that one may expect them to be found in but rather those that transcend the industry known to be dominated by ‘tech bros'. Picture Indian women using artificial intelligence in art, writing, advertising, and even fashion not only in India but around the world.

Every year, the world celebrates International Women's Day on March 8 in more ways than one. While marketing campaigns by brands make the most of the designated day, it is also a constant reminder about why women need to be celebrated, as they have been historically discriminated in different ways. Even with so much of education, it also seeps into the workplace, and more importantly male-dominated industries like technology. However, the latest entrant in technology has opened doors to break that stereotype and women like Jain aren't backing down from using it to their advantage.

More women using AI for their work
Starting her journey with Midjourney's V1.2 version, Jain wanted to explore every way that she could use AI in her work. She explains, "It was extremely overwhelming at the time, and I was intrigued to try it out. Eventually, I started conceptualising product and furniture designs, product photography and photo realistic photography of human interactions with the products along with various other things on it." While artificial intelligence has been present for quite some time now around the world, many women like the 25-year-old started jumping on the bandwagon to use it beyond the technology and medical sphere. "I have seen more women use AI. Over the course of time, I have seen women in various professions transitioning their workflow by incorporating AI in the research or concept phases. A few of them have really cracked the code of using AI with traditional software to generate extremely polished results," she adds.

Unnati Gajjar, is the head of marketing in India for US-based Insight Enterprises, which provides end-to-end solutions for companies to navigate IT challenges with one of them being generative AI tools. Shas been a woman in a leadership role for some time now and with AI coming in, it didn't take her long to embark on this journey. With over 13 years in marketing, she observes, "The number of women employed in the IT industry in India has seen a significant increase over the past 10 years. According to Nasscom, women constitute 34 per cent of the workforce in India, with a majority of the workers under the age of 30." While the change has been encouragingly seen in the STEM fields, the lack of which has been a subject of discussion in the last five years, it has also entered the field of technology, according to her. "This evolution reflects not just a quantitative increase, but a qualitative shift towards inclusivity and diversity in technology, particularly in emerging fields like Artificial Intelligence," she adds.

Addressing AI in the room
Even though she says women have been recognised for their work, there is still a long way to go. She explains, "There is a lot more to be done in terms of leadership and representation. Women's varied viewpoints and creative ideas contribute to the AI field, helping to create more inclusive and morally equipped AI systems."

As if being a woman in tech doesn't pose its challenges, Jain talking about the challenges, says the distrust because of the use of AI is another hurdle the industry faces right now, as men and women are constantly being questioned about their creativity and input, just because of the use of AI in their work. The Goregaon resident shares, "It looks easy because of the involvement of AI, but there is a process to it that needs to be understood to generate accurate results. At the end of the day, it is just another tool that eases the workflow."

At the same time, the Mumbaikar loves to see how being a woman in AI changes the dynamics of the room as soon as they start talking. "I have observed that it takes merely 10 minutes to change the dynamics of any room you enter. Going from being perceived the least important in the room to taking charge of the meeting - it is always fun to watch how this unfolds in various ways when my team and I walk into a room with a newer clientele. I guess the idea of a woman taking charge in tech and AI is still unexpected in the industry," she shares.

Gajjar adds, "The rise of women in AI is challenging the outdated narratives that have long overshadowed their contributions. It is crucial to dispel the myths that suggest men are somehow inherently more suited to AI. Women bring distinct perspectives and innovative approaches to AI, fostering the development of more inclusive, ethically sound AI systems. Their involvement is pivotal in steering the AI discourse towards a more equitable future."

The fact that women are detail-oriented in general, expresses Jain is an extremely beneficial trait when it comes to AI. She adds, "As more and more people realise that we will see a gradual rise in the use of AI, by women for various reasons, ranging from industry altering decisions to even getting our day to day lives more organised. It's going to change the way we process information and enhance in organising our lives."

Making everything real in fashion
It is the same for France-based Swarnim Verma, who believes women can bring their unique talents and sensibilities to create wonderful results with AI tools. "Our outlook can also help in developing safer, more ethical guidelines for the use of AI in the future that consider the perspectives of all the people, whose lives will be affected by the rapid development of AI. Women can help foster better relationships between AI tools and humans," she notes.

Varma, who is originally from Navi Mumbai, is one of these very women who is changing the way you look at the use of AI by using it in fashion and has been working in the artificial intelligence field for the last two years. It has been quite a journey for her, and she wouldn't have it any other way. The 3D digital designer started out by doing engineering nine years ago, only to quit soon after a few months because she realised how she couldn't picture herself as an engineer years down the line. She narrates, "I wanted to find a field that could also help me to fulfil my passion for creativity. I eventually found out about industrial design, and after two years of pursuing product design, I realised that the technical part of using 3D software in design was something that really blended logic with creativity, just as I wanted. So, I switched my specialisation to 3D Digital Design."

From there, she got internships with the likes of Adobe 3D and Decathlon and there has been no turning back for her since then. "Today I'm working in Decathlon France, trying out the latest techniques in digital prototyping while also exploring other developments in the creative industry, notably generative AI," adds Verma proudly. In a team of eight people, she is one among two women and certainly had a range of emotions initially but that has changed since then. "It certainly felt overwhelming in the beginning, but my manager is always looking out to hire women if he can for tech roles to diversify the team, but it is hard for him to find suitable candidates because there are so few," she says, addressing the challenges that go beyond the male-female ratio. Verma feels she is also among the lucky ones to have encouraging male colleagues who treat her as their equal and that in turn pushes her to do better.

While inclusion at the workplace has been a journey, just like her education, the 26-year-old textile and apparel designer has come a long way while dabbling around with AI. It started with her curiosity with Midjourney's beta version over two years ago, to bring her imagination to life, especially in fashion. She further adds, "It is very interesting to use AI in fashion because I can bring a unique sensibility through my own style and personal touch. I also feel like since AI art produced by keywords is also linked to language, my vision of seeing elements of design as poetry help me create some unique concepts."

In the time that she has been mesmerised with the AI, Verma has also seen quite a few of her female designer friends also get interested in using AI for concepts including software like Midjourney, Newarc AI, Stable Diffusion and more. ‘Some designers have also tried to create visual inspiration for design in materials, colours and ambiances like a customised Pinterest board to express their abstract ideas," she adds. Even as she has more male colleagues around her, specifically in 3D Digital Design, she uses the internet to connect with many women in the field around the globe through LinkedIn. "I do happen to see female fashion designers and graphic designers try out generative AI for concept art more and more," she adds excitedly.

Even as she feels that the common misconception is that women aren't interested in advanced AI tools based on the assumption that not many of them are seen in STEM because of lack of awareness, Verma says it is part of a deeper problem. "Young girls need to be encouraged to join STEM fields to be able to participate in this revolution. The silver lining is we see women shining more and more in these industries," she adds.

Vamika Sachar is another woman like Jain and Verma making use of artificial intelligence for her work. While she is still in the initial phase, having spent only six months dabbling in using the medium in the field of advertising with SamurAi, a new city-based AI agency, she is leveraging her knowledge of writing, advertising and being a visualiser to bring it together with her small team. She shares, "Our company is still very small. In a team of three generators, I'm the only woman. It often means that I take charge when it comes to beauty campaigns in any way I can. However, our team is led by a producer who is also a woman. So, that means that in the small space we occupy in the AI world in India, with a 50:50 sex ratio we are doing pretty good."

Interestingly, Sachar says she was technologically averse before she joined the company but being a creative person, it didn't take her long to get addicted to the beautiful visuals that came out of Midjourney. "It made me want to get better and take a keener interest in learning other AI-based software," she adds.

Being in the nascent stage of working as a woman in the AI field, the 27-year-old is learning every day. She reveals, "I am pleasantly surprised by how my experience of writing fiction has helped me with AI. At the end of the day, it is all imagination and a play of words." However, she also notes how there are still hurdles, which are part and parcel of the journey. "Before I started learning to use Midjourney, my former colleague told me to use Midjourney, you just have to be good at English. He was right. But that also drives home the point that at this point in time, the field of AI creates a division between people who know the language and people who don't. It is about people who can afford software and people who can't. Once again, it is all about privilege. It is getting better but it's far from perfect," she concludes.