Nearly 80 percent of women's jobs in the U.S. could be disrupted by AI automation

There are now more working-age women in the United States than ever before.

The labor force participation rate for women ages 25 to 54 hit a record high in April and then again in May, rebounding from the pandemic "recession" and returning to pre-pandemic forms toward historic labor market growth.

This could all change with AI.

Goldman Sachs economists predict that a generation of AI technology like ChatGPT has the potential to transform the labor market, exposing most jobs across the country to automation. The technology can create new content such as text, images, audio, video, and code from training data that includes examples of the desired output.

However, recent research suggests that while women outnumber men in the U.S. workforce, corporate adoption of generative AI is likely to have a disproportionate impact on women: a recent analysis estimated that 79 percent of women in the workforce (nearly 59 million) work in occupations vulnerable to disruption and automation. According to the Kennan-Flagler School of Business at the University of North Carolina, the percentage is 58 percent.

Julia Pollak, chief economist at online job market ZipRecruiter, said it was "alarming" that it was estimated that nearly eight-in-ten female employees could be affected. "That said, I think many of us intuitively realize that automating some of these office jobs would be easier than automating carpenters, electricians, and pest removal jobs, many of which manual service and production jobs are much more male workloads."

She added: "I think there are legitimate concerns that some of the gains made by women may be eroded, at least temporarily. However, she also noted, "these technologies will definitely create a lot of opportunities as well." ”

Mark McNeilly, a professor of marketing practice at the Kenan Flagler School and lead author of the AI study, said there is a higher percentage of women in white-collar jobs, while men have a higher percentage of white-collar and blue-collar jobs. Some of the most accessible occupations with a majority of female employees are office and administrative support; medical practitioners and technicians; education, training and libraries; health care support; and community and social services.

McNelly told CNN: "It's not always about 'I'm going to lose my job.'" ”。“ I think it's really a question of whether an individual can do something to add value. ”

Pre-pandemic operation

Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that in the years leading up to the pandemic, women's labor force participation grew faster than men's.

Pollack said there are several factors behind these increases. Notably: female-dominated industries, such as healthcare and nursing, are among the fastest-growing industries; Women's educational attainment has increased significantly; Women have also made greater progress in traditionally male-dominated areas such as construction, agriculture, repair and maintenance.

As of February 2020, the labor force participation rate for prime-age women was 77%, slightly below the record of 77.3% set in the internet age, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

But by April 2020, the unemployment rate plummeted to 73.5% as the pandemic froze the U.S. economy, forcing more than 20 million people out of work. However, as the country recovers in the coming months, the level of return for women is different from that for men.

The pandemic has hit the leisure, hospitality, education and health services sectors, where women make up the majority of the workforce. In addition, unemployment and weak job recovery in the childcare sector hamper workers' ability to return to the workforce; Because childcare responsibilities often fall on women, they are hampered even more as schools become family-based.

The tide finally turned.

Historic rebound

Dana Peterson, chief economist at the Conference Board, a business research and membership organisation, said the three key drivers for women entering the labour market are access to childcare, market wages and flexibility.

The recovery of the pandemic kicked these catalysts into hyperpower.

Overall, work has become less rigid: telecommuting is becoming more common, and working from home is becoming more flexible. This helps improve opportunities for childcare, schedules allow for easier pick-ups, and companies that offer on-site childcare. The labor shortage is largely linked to the accelerating demographic trends of baby boomers, long-term COVID and health-related issues that are helping to raise wages, especially for low-wage jobs.

"Some of these things are becoming more common, which supports more women in the labour market," she said. ”。

In addition, female-centric industries, such as healthcare, leisure and hospitality, have continued to see some of the strongest job growth over the past two years.

"That's where a lot of hiring comes in, and that's where a lot of wages go up," Peterson said. ”。“ So if you have more job opportunities and higher wages, and these fields tend to be dominated by women, it makes sense that women will be attracted to these industries and are more willing to work. ”

Last month, the labor force participation rate for women ages 25 to 54 hit a new high of 77.6 percent, up from a record of 77.5 percent set the previous month, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

With that comes artificial intelligence

Specializing in collecting and analyzing publicly available workforce data, Revelio Labs recently identified the occupations most exposed to AI and the gender and racial distribution within them. Revelio's analysis shows that the positions with the highest percentage of women exposed by AI include billing and account collectors (82.9%), payroll and timekeepers (79.7%), executive secretaries (74.3%), word processors and typists (65.4%), and bookkeeping, accountants and auditors (65%).

Ben Zweig, CEO of Revelio, said that women make up 71% of employees in the occupations that are most exposed to AI.

CEO Ben Zweig said: "Sometimes in AI conversations, we take a point of view, which I think is a wrong view, that the task composition of a job is static – a job is a job, it has fixed responsibilities. But this is not the case. Work changes all the time. ”

Peterson said AI represents both opportunities and threats, and it really depends on the industry.

Generative AI may not have the ability to flip a patient or insert an intravenous injection right now, but it may help to take a closer look at billions of pieces of imaging data to diagnose disease.

On the other hand, Peterson said, AI could be harmful and threatening to any highly "automated" role.

"The problem with AI is that it's not perfect; It is generating new content from existing content. ”。“ It still takes a person to create some existing content for it to draw upon. Whatever it produces, that doesn't mean it's right – you still need someone to come and see if it makes sense. ”

She noted that there are legitimate risks for businesses, including ensuring responsible use of applications and fully understanding and addressing potential concerns around bias and ethics.

"Over time, it will replace some jobs, but like other types of technological advances that we have, people are always looking for ways to do other things," she said. ”。“ Yes, it may destroy jobs in the short term, but it will also create new jobs and different opportunities. It helps people to be more productive in their existing jobs. ”

'Cannot be replaced by machines'

At Montana State University, Dr. Sara Mannheimer, who earned her Ph.D. in Library and Information Science, is working with funding from the Institute of Museum and Library Services and leading a research team exploring how AI can be used ethically in libraries and archives.

"Librarians think a lot about evaluating information, considering sources and reliable sources," she said. She pointed out that the data often entered in AI comes from the internet. ChatGPT uses Reddit data and Wikipedia data, and who knows what else, and [these] are mostly used, edited and engaged by men, most of whom are white. So the information [these technologies] produce is biased and not always accurate. ”

While the AI project doesn't specifically address labor market impacts, especially for library staff, Mannheimer is aware of what the technology means for her and others in her field.

"Libraries can't be replaced by machines, humans always need to do some work," she said. She added that if AI can handle rote tasks, "I think librarians and library staff have a lot of work that requires critical thinking." ”

Meredith Nudo, a freelance writer and voice actress in Houston, has always been acutely aware of the potential disruption of AI to her work, particularly voice over work.

Voice actors like Nudo are resisting attempts to have AI-created voices replace them. Organizations such as the National Voice Actors Association have developed guidelines and launched a campaign to educate the industry and supporters around the subject.

Nudo has a clause in her standard voice work contract stating that her work cannot be used to train AI and has started incorporating similar terms into her writing, especially after being recruited to have the opportunity to teach AI to write or edit more effectively.

"Being asked to train someone who basically took over from me was really a weird, surreal experience, like saying you're not good enough to do the job you have experience and trained for," she said. ”。

Noudo said she sees an opportunity to work with AI on certain tasks, such as note-taking and transcription, that could free up time and space for other tasks that require more legwork, creativity and critical thinking.

"If we don't have to worry about meeting our basic needs, I think we might see more people willing to embrace the technology," she said. ”。