We know AI systems are becoming more sophisticated every day but current iterations are far from perfect. It has been shown that outcomes tend to mirror the leanings in the data used to train them and falter when encountering unexpected situations. It is considered that lack of gender diversity within the teams that develop AI systems may be part of the problem.
Those who research collective decision making and creativity find that groups with a wider pool of cognitive diversity get better outcomes. Essentially what they are telling us is that AI development is very male centric, potentially to its detriment.
It is a fact that there is a lack of gender diversity in the STEM disciplines (science, technology, engineering and mathematics). A study in America in 2015 revealed that women were 47% of the total workforce and that only 24% of them were in STEM jobs. Another study revealed that 80% of AI professors were male and of AI researchers; in Facebook just 15% were women and Google only 10%.
More needs to be done to encourage girls in school to not drop STEM subjects as they progress through the educational system.