Gender and Artificial Intelligence

Abstract

This entry explores the interactions and intersections of gender and artificial intelligence (AI) over the past century. It presents four anthropological and anthropologically inspired approaches to scrutinize relationships between gender and technical systems: first, looking at what came before the birth of AI; second, studying the sites of production of AI; third, examining how perceived biological differences still inform AI classifications for gender and other sociocultural constructions; and fourth, questioning the performance of gender by AI systems themselves. It concludes by observing that conversations regarding gender and AI are no longer restricted to specific disciplines (e.g., gender to social scientists and AI to computer scientists) and will continue to require integrated multidisciplinary efforts to understand and act on insights gleaned from an exploration of the relationships between these concepts. It highlights intersections between gender, AI, and subjects such as race and ethnicity, the environment, and culture as areas for further focus.