Women in AI: Closing the gender skill gap

When the UK government, various academia and industry firms announced the ‘AI Sector Deal’ in April 2018, a whopping £950 million was pledged towards AI development to create “an economy that harnesses artificial intelligence and data, one of the great opportunities of our age.” Just two years prior, investment in London’s AI sector had already seen the field grow by more than 200%. Today, London is home to double the amount of AI companies than Berlin and Paris combined, but a troubling question still remains — where are all the women?

New technology, old attitudes

According to Innovate UK’s Machine Learning and Data Lead, Sarah El-Hanfy, “The tech sector’s gender imbalance is nothing new, so it will come as no surprise that in 2017, out of the 2.1 million employees working in the UK’s technology sector, only 17% were women.” And the AI sector looks even grimmer. While statistics show that companies with more women in senior roles produce greater shareholder returns and that inclusive environments offer a better chance for AI to positively effect society overall, we’re just not seeing it at the moment. “AI scientists are creating applications that affect all sectors of the population, and yet they represent small sectors of the public at large in their background,” Kay Firth-Butterfield, the Head of AI and ML at World Economic Forum, told Forbes. “Algorithms created can be biased, unjust and unrepresentative — scientists do not give deep thought to the impact of their work on society because they don’t understand all facts in a way they would if their community was as diverse as the public.”
 
While logic dictates that AI should represent the vast variety of the people that use it, the reality is that we live in a world where this technology is designed for and by one group of people. As Sarah Porter, CEO and Founder of Inspired Minds, told Forbes, “There is evidence of the manifestation of patriarchal stereotypes in fast-growing applications of AI — from softly-spoken, girly-named female-voiced chatbots and care assistants, to the sexbot, a subservient objectification of the female form.” Only by increasing diversity in AI can its potential for harm and negative effects be significantly reduced. “We have more of a scientific responsibility to act than other fields because we’re developing technology that affects a large proportion of the population,” added Joelle Pineau from Facebook’s Montreal AI division. When we promote education and create more roles for women in AI, we’re simultaneously ensuring algorithms are drawing from a more diverse data set.

The future is female

And many are currently making strides in this area. Among a growing cluster of organisations for women already working in AI, as well as those interested in the field, Innovate UK has been running an event called the Global Business Innovation Programme for Women Innovators in Artificial Intelligence and Data. Held in Israel in March, the initiative promotes empowerment, knowledge and collaboration through education and research to encourage diversity in emerging technologies. According to its founders, the project promotes women in UK businesses and enables UK-based women-led enterprises to further focus on machine learning. Similarly, Women Leading in AI (WLinAI), which was formed in 2018 by a group of AI scientists to encourage women to grow professionally and personally, launched its report ’10 Principles of Responsible AI’ at the UK House of Lords last February. Its co-founder Ivana Bartoletti stated, “For the enormous benefits of technology to be enjoyed by society as a whole, we need to stop churning out algorithms which discriminate against women and minorities.”
 
In an interview with Forbes magazine, IBM AI Ethics Global Leader, Francesca Rossi, recommended that inequality in the artificial intelligence sector ought to be addressed at every level of an organisation, “whether through internships, entry-level or mid-career — develop a gender equality infrastructure within companies to offer as many opportunities to women as to men.” At Microsoft, the issue of getting more women onboard is currently tackled by implementing AI itself in the recruiting process. “In order to get a more diverse workforce in AI, we need to increase the pipeline, hire more women and minorities into AI positions and create an environment that gives them opportunities to thrive so that we can retain them,” offered Jennifer Chayes, Managing Director of Microsoft Research New England, NYC and Montreal. Speaking to Forbes, she revealed, “We recently came up with a set of algorithms we call ‘greenlining’ which can lead to hiring that is more diverse than human hiring decisions. It’s just the beginning.”

The future is here

Despite the dismal number of women currently working in tech and AI, it would be inaccurate to claim that there are no female key players in the sector at all. In fact, while their numbers are small, their power is incredible. Among some of the fastest-rising AI companies in the world — including AI4ALL, Partnership on AI, and New York University’s AI Now Institute — it is women leaders who are found at the helm. And while the UK still has some catching up to do, there are still plenty of notable female trailblazers kicking the doors wide open for other women to fearlessly join them in making society a better and more diverse place.

Women in AI: UK Trailblazers

Tabitha Goldstaub
Co Founder at CognitionX & Chair of the UK Government's AI Council
Tabitha co-founded CognitionX in 2015, an Expert Advice Platform which is accelerating adoption of AI across enterprise, startups and government to help ensure a safe and responsible transition to an AI-driven society. She led the CognitionX report team who wrote ‘London: The AI Growth Capital of Europe’ for the Mayor of London in 2018 and set up Why Women in AI and Future Girl Corp.
 
Sara El-Hanfy
Innovation Technologist - Machine Learning & Data at InnovateUK
Sara is AL, ML and Data lead for Innovate UK, working closely with the UK ecosystem to develop Innovate UK’s AI vision and activities. With 14 years’ digital experience, she has worked for NGOs and the private sector, and has focused on machine intelligence in the last five years. Prior to joining Innovate UK, she advised global organisations on AI development strategies and implementation.
 
Sue Daley
Associate Director Technology and Innovation at techUK
Sue leads techUK's work on cloud computing, big data, data analytics and Artificial Intelligence, and has been recognised in the UK Big Data 100 as a key influencer in driving forward the Big Data agenda. Prior to joining techUK in 2015, Sue was responsible for Symantec’s Government Relations in the UK and Ireland and was senior policy advisor at the Confederation of British Industry (CBI).
 
Katie Gibbs
Head of Consulting and Delivery at Heron AI
After 3 years at Accenture, Katie moved to Heron for the challenge of solving complex business problems by identifying the right uses for AI. Katie’s natural ability to help customers articulate their needs, coupled with her service design background, allows her to guide clients through their AI journey to create meaningful, bespoke solutions. She is a regular speaker on the AI events circuit.
 
Elena Sinel
Founder of Acorn Aspirations & Teens in AI and International Speaker & Consultant
Elena is a social entrepreneur and founder of Teens In AI and Acorn Aspirations, motivated to make a difference in the world by empowering young people aged 12-18 to solve real problems through technologies: AI, VR, AR, MR and blockchain. Teens In AI is Elena’s latest initiative, spurred by her passion for AI and its ability to create positive and lasting impact on the world.