Gender Equality and Artificial Intelligence: SDG 5 and the Role of the UN in Fighting Stereotypes, Biases, and Gender Discrimination

Abstract

Gender inequalities and discrimination are a global problem affecting all countries of the United Nations (UN). Since the rise of digital technologies, such as artificial intelligence (AI) and algorithms, new challenges have arisen for achieving gender equality. While some argue that digital technologies could be an opportunity to overcome some of the gender inequalities, many warn of the new dangers associated with the use of AI and algorithms, particularly for disadvantaged groups of society suffering from inequalities in their daily life since centuries ago. To assess the UN’s role of preserving gender equality in the age of algorithms, this chapter is framed by the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), especially SDG 5, and includes a brief overview of the broader policy and institutional framework of the UN. It is argued here that an adequate legal and policy framework with a clear gender dimension at global level is needed and that it could be achieved by involving the main gender equality actors of the UN system. Drawing on the available literature and policy proposals, the last section will sketch out some of the elements of a forward-looking, sustainable, and antifragile UN framework that could be used to address the challenges of AI for gender equality.