Working at the intersection of work and technology, I hear the same concerns about artificial intelligence from women—particularly progressive, well-educated women—on repeat:
- “I worry about AI’s bias.”
- “I have privacy concerns.”
- “What about the environmental impact?”
- “Is this cheating?”
Yes, AI systems continue to reinforce existing societal biases—racial, gendered, and homophobic. Yes, there are real privacy risks, including deepfake technology that disproportionately targets women. And yes, the environmental impact is significant. GPT-4’s training, for example, may have emitted up to 15 metric tons of CO₂—the same annual emissions as 938 Americans.
These are real problems. But, while women name the issues, because the work needed to address them is so large, they disengage.
Here’s the irony: For women especially, the very values that drive us to challenge power may be making us more susceptible to it. While we debate, scrutinize, and hesitate, the systems we seek to reform move forward—unbothered and unchallenged. The result? AI is being shaped. Just not by us.
The alternative: You don’t need to abandon your values, you need to operationalize them. Here’s how:
If your concern is bias:
Don’t just critique from the sidelines—get in the room. AI learns from us. Our prompts, questions, and corrections shape what it becomes. If someone unlike you trains it, the bias stays baked in.
Want to go further? Support or join teams building inclusive datasets. Learn how bias shows up in these systems so you can spot it and shift it.
If your concern is privacy:
Be intentional. Learn how your data is used. Many AI tools have trust centers where you can review their policies. Anthropic offers strong privacy protections. Perplexity.ai doesn’t require a login.
You also have the option to turn off model training. Prioritizing data privacy matters. Nonetheless, it’s important to understand that you’re also stepping back from influencing how these tools evolve. There’s no perfect stance, only trade-offs. Still, using AI, even with training off, keeps you engaged and learning, which is better than checking out entirely. Choose tools that give you control. Push for better standards. Disengaging doesn’t protect you. It just sidelines you.
If your concern is the environmental impact:
Apply the same scrutiny you would to food, fashion, or travel. Understand what energy a tool uses, and whether the company discloses emissions data. Models like DeepSeek are already challenging assumptions about energy use and creating pressure for more efficiency models.
And not all AI use is equal. Generating text is far less taxing than creating video or high-res images. Fun fact: that 30-minute TikTok doomscroll before bed can use nearly 50 times more energy than a single ChatGPT prompt.
Start with tools that publish transparency reports and use renewable energy—like Claude by Anthropic. Choose your tools and prompts thoughtfully.
If you wonder “Is this cheating?”:
I’ve never—not once—heard a man say that. Instead, they say it makes them more innovative.
Using AI isn’t inherently cheating. You can choose to use it to cut corners and offload your judgment and engagement. Or you can use it to expand your knowledge and deepen your thinking. When used well, AI becomes a collaborator. Use it to brainstorm, pressure-test your thinking, learn a language or some lesson about the world, or refine a messy first draft. It doesn’t have to replace your voice—it can sharpen it. The real skill lies in applying judgment, strategy, and critical thinking.
If you’re still questioning whether AI is good for the world, well, it’s complicated. But what’s not complicated is this: the AI revolution is already underway. And without women shaping it, the outcome will be far worse.