Women trust AI less than men: Research study reveals key reasons

Since the development of artificial intelligence at breakneck speed, women have found more on the receiving end than men.

When it comes to the gender-based impacts of artificial intelligence, it is no wrong to say that women suffer more consequences in the form of cyber harassment, sexually explicit deepfakes, and AI-fuelled redundancy at work.

Given the disproportionate effects on women, the gender gap in AI trust has widened as women are more skeptical of the new technology than women.

According to research conducted by Harvard Business School in 2025, the AI tool adoption rates are 25 percent less in women than men. One in four AI professionals are women globally.

A new study from Northeastern University in Boston adds new dimensions, explaining women’s growing wariness.

The research study surveyed around 3000 Americans and Canadians. According to the findings published in the journal PNAS Nexus, risk exposure and tolerance related to AI are two main factors that evoke different responses in genders.

Women are 11 percent more likely than men to believe AI’s risks surpassed its benefits.

But the “gender gap” in AI trust disappears when outcomes are definite and guaranteed.

Beatrice Magistro, an assistant professor of AI governance at Northeastern University, said, “Basically, when women are certain about the employment effects, the gender gap in support for AI disappears.”

Moreover, women also trust AI less than men because of economic risks driven by AI-fuelled displacement at the workplace.

“Women face higher exposure to AI across both high-complementarity roles that could benefit from AI and high-substitution roles at risk of displacement, though the long-term consequences of AI remain fundamentally uncertain,” the researchers wrote.

To tackle the surging scepticism among women, the researchers also called for robust regulations, shielding women from AI bias and deepfakes.

The policymakers should implement stronger protections against job displacement, deliver compensations, and ensure transparency in AI governance.