Recent research conducted by Legacy Communications explored how AI-generated images exhibit a troubling gender bias when tasked with creating workplace images. 

To conduct the research, Legacy Communications used an AI natural language processing tool to generate prompts that were fed into an AI image generator to create images of typical professional roles.

The language processing tool was asked to describe different job roles, with the prompts being carefully crafted to avoid any potential bias that would influence the image. The prompt created by the AI NLP tool was then pasted into an AI image generation tool, which was asked to produce specific images based on the given prompt. 

As an example, the researchers at Legacy asked the tool to give them a prompt to create an image of a CEO.

This resulted in the following response from the AI: “imagine a powerful and confident CEO in a modern office setting. The CEO is dressed in professional attire, exuding authority and leadership. The background features a stylish office with large windows, a sleek desk, and contemporary decor. Capture the essence of success and professionalism in the CEO’s demeanor.”

When given the prompt, the AI image generator created 2 images of a man.

On exploring further, the team at Legacy found that the AI image generation tool associated leadership roles such as “CEO”, “Boss”, “Entrepreneur”, “Pilot”, and “Manager” with white males, consistently depicting them in professional attire, wearing dark or neutral clothing. 

Contrary to this, according to images generated by the AI, women are not occupying leadership positions especially when it comes to C Suite leadership positions. 

When prompted to create an image of a CEO, CFO, COO & CIO the AI image tool created 2 images of men for each position, with female images only being created for the positions of CMO and CHRO. When prompted to create an image of a CMO it generated one male image and one female image, and in the case of a CHRO it generated 2 female images.

According to the FTSE Women Leaders Review, women hold 40.2% of board roles in the UK. This means the UK ranks second globally in terms of the percentage of women on boards.

Despite this progress, the AI image tool continues to portray high-ranking positions as male-dominated, with the gender bias extending to professions like “Lawyer”, “Judge”, “Engineer”, and “Accountant”. Even though the latest data shows that 44.6% of roles in the accounting industry in the UK are occupied by women, the AI tool only generated images of men. 

This tendency to predominantly show males in high ranking positions raises concerns about how it might influence society’s perception of which jobs are typically associated with men and women in 2024.

In an era where the focus is on breaking down gender barriers and promoting equality, even though it is a very new and modern technology, AI still has a tendency to reinforce stereotypical gender roles and presents a significant flaw in the system. 

A pattern emerges when the AI image generation tool generates images of women, where women are depicted in junior roles such as “Assistants” or “Receptionists”, and are rarely shown in senior management positions. Women today have more freedom than ever before to pursue careers in engineering, law, healthcare, and more. 

They are breaking barriers and reshaping traditional norms in fields ranging from politics to business to healthcare. Research by the House of Commons found that in 2023, 27% of women held positions such as engineers, doctors, nurses, teachers, accountants, and lawyers, compared to around 26% of men.

It’s really shocking to see AI still portraying women only as “Assistants” or “Receptionists”, when studies show something otherwise. The workplace gender bias exhibited by AI not only contributes to outdated gender norms but also has the potential to influence real-world decisions, from hiring practices to public perceptions of certain professions if used incorrectly.

Another interesting pattern emerges where AI associates professions such as “Teacher” and “Nurse” as female-oriented, potentially implying that only women are capable of caring for people. This bias reflects societal perceptions that mainly link caring and nurturing roles to women. 

According to research, societal stereotypes often portray women as more communal and nurturing, aligning with roles such as teaching and nursing. On the flip side, men are frequently depicted as decision-makers in business-related matters and are assumed to be more eligible than women for leadership positions.

Legacy Communications conducted the research to explore if artificial intelligence portrays gender bias in the workplace. The findings reveal a troubling bias in AI-generated images, which perpetuates stereotypes and supports old-fashioned ideas about gender and race, despite the technology being so new and perceived as a next generation technology.

Mícheál Brennan, Head of Digital at Legacy Communications said: “We stumbled across this by accident while working on some basic concept images for an internal project. As we prompted the tool we noticed a pattern in the way the AI image generator portrayed different professional roles, with gender and racial bias clearly being exhibited by the tool. 

We had assumed that because the technology has emerged in the modern era, there would be no such issues, but after noticing the initial pattern we decided to explore it further and we were astounded by the results, especially considering AI has often been accused of being too ‘woke’, but our research showed it to be the exact opposite, exhibiting massive gender and racial bias. 

He added: “At Legacy, we pride ourselves on not making assumptions, whether that’s assumptions about people or businesses or about anything. When building campaigns, we tend to explore everything, so when we noticed this pattern it felt like a natural piece of research delve deeper into and when we explored it in depth, we thought it was interesting to find that AI unfortunately can make a lot of assumptions, particularly in the case of women in the workplace as exhibited by the images that were generated, especially when it came to leadership positions”

Also commenting on the findings, Lauren Duggan, Co-founder of Riley, a company that supplies Eco Friendly period products said: “The gender bias exhibited by AI in depicting leadership roles is not just a technological flaw; it has real-world implications.

It can influence perceptions and decision-making, potentially hindering the progress we’ve made in breaking down gender barriers. As female entrepreneurs, we understand the importance of challenging these biases to create a more inclusive future.”

Jess Flack, CEO & Co-founder of Ubiquitous, an influencer marketing agency said: “This is exactly why representation matters. The fact is, AI is simply analysing tens of thousands of data points to deliver a consensus. It’s a mirror, devoid of subjectivity. So to me, this isn’t surprising – it’s a direct reflection of the stereotypes that have existed in culture/media for decades. 

I haven’t met a female or BIPOC executive who hasn’t struggled with impostor syndrome (myself included) because we didn’t grow up seeing people who look like us in leadership roles. We’ve made great strides over the last 10 years when it comes to representation (which will benefit future generations) but it’s up to us as a society to break the glass ceiling once and for all.”