Study shows AI puts more women’s jobs at risk
Study shows AI puts more women’s jobs at risk
Nicole Wootton-CaneTue, April 28, 2026 at 9:40 AM UTC
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Women are significantly more likely than men to work in jobs that are most exposed to the impact of artificial intelligence (AI), a report has found.
Almost 60 per cent of jobs assessed as at risk of change from AI in London are filled by women, data from the Greater London Authority (GLA) suggests, despite them making up 45 per cent of the city’s overall workforce.
It also found 8 per cent of women working in London are in roles with a “high” risk of change from AI, compared to 4 per cent of men. Administrative and customer service occupations are thought to be most at risk.
Women are more likely to be in administrative roles, the report said (AFP/Getty)
More than 300,000 administrative roles in the city face the highest risk of exposure because their tasks “align most closely with GenAI capabilities”, the report found.
Women are overrepresented in these occupations in which generative AI is “highly capable”, the report said, making them more likely to be impacted by a shift towards automation.
However, the report stressed exposure is not a forecast of job losses, but instead indicates where job content is most likely to change.
Londoners are “substantially” more affected by AI adoption than the rest of the country, with around 2.4 million people (46 per cent) estimated to be in roles where AI could automate a share of their tasks, the report said. The UK average is 38 per cent.
Announcing a new London AI and Jobs Taskforce on Tuesday, mayor Sir Sadiq Khan said AI presents “real opportunities” but warned it could impact London’s labour market.
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“My approach to AI is rooted in realism – being clear-eyed and pragmatic about the potential perils, while also being alert to – and enthusiastic about – the amazing possibilities,” he added.
Sadiq Khan has warned of the impact of AI on London’s labour market (AFP/Getty)
Sir Sadiq previously warned AI could usher in a new era of mass unemployment and inequality.
“We mustn’t drift, absentmindedly, into a future we didn’t ask for and don’t want,” he said during his annual speech at Mansion House earlier this year.
“We need to wake up and make a choice: seize the potential of AI and use it as a superpower for positive transformation and creation, or surrender to it and sit back and watch as it becomes a weapon of mass destruction of jobs.”
Overall, the GLA found at least a million jobs in London are either "highly or significantly exposed" to the impacts of AI, with young people, those of Asian ethnicity, and degree-holders also more likely to be impacted.
It comes after new research suggested more jobs are being lost to AI in the UK than in other large economies.
British job losses as a result of AI were twice the international average, the study by investment bank Morgan Stanley found in January, with a net loss of 8 per cent over the past 12 months.
One of the report’s authors said the findings were an “early warning sign” of the impact that AI will have on the workforce.
Source: “AOL Breaking”
