Generative Artificial Intelligence Exposes Female-Dominated Jobs More to Automation
Occupational Segregation as the Primary Factor
The concentration of women in certain types of jobs is a well-documented phenomenon. They hold a large share of secretarial, reception, payment management, and accounting assistance positions. These functions involve repetitive and codifiable tasks, making them particularly vulnerable to automation. Conversely, men are more present in sectors such as construction, industry, and manual trades, where physical tasks are less directly replaceable by current AI models.
The ILO analysis covers 436 occupations, classified by gender distribution. Among the occupations identified as having high exposure to automation, female-dominated professions are in the majority: typists, word processing operators, bookkeeping and payroll clerks, secretaries, receptionists, and translators and interpreters.
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A Globally Observed Trend
The finding of greater exposure of female jobs is global. The ILO study shows that in 88% of analyzed countries, women are more affected than men. The gap is particularly visible in high-income countries, where 41% of jobs are exposed to generative AI, compared to only 11% in low-income countries.
These figures do not mean massive and imminent job destruction. The main impact of generative AI lies more in the transformation of work quality, the redefinition of tasks, and the evolution of required skills. The ILO estimates that the impact of AI could widen the income gap between men and women by 3 to 5 percentage points, thus reversing years of progress toward pay equality.
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The AI Paradox: Threat or Opportunity for "Pink-Collar" Workers?
The term "pink-collar" refers to service sector professions, predominantly held by women, centered on service, administration, and care. Historically less affected by industrial automation waves, these jobs are now on the front line facing generative AI.
The main risk is that of skills devaluation and work intensification. If AI handles tasks deemed simple, employees could be assigned a larger volume of work, or tasks of supervising and correcting AI errors — work that is often invisible and little recognized.
However, the opposite angle deserves exploration. By freeing up time from administrative tasks, AI can allow professionals to focus on higher-value missions requiring creativity, critical judgment, and human interaction.
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Building AI in Service of Equality
For the optimistic scenario to materialize, voluntary action is essential. International organizations like the ILO and OECD call for AI governance centered on humans and ethics.
First, education and continuous training are paramount. It is not just about training more women in tech careers, but about giving the entire working population the keys to understand and work with AI.
Second, the design of AI systems themselves must be more inclusive. The low proportion of women in development teams (30% globally) is a major problem, as it leads to algorithms that can reproduce, or even amplify, societal stereotypes.
The transformation driven by artificial intelligence is not a technological inevitability. It is the result of human choices, individual and collective. The future of work — and with it, part of the future of gender equality — is being shaped today.
