Technology

The Messy Reality of AI’s Much Discussed Gender Gap

Women are using artificial intelligence at lower rates than men. But are they being “left behind”?

Illustration: Aaron Fernandez for Bloomberg Businessweek

Earlier this month, the actor Reese Witherspoon went into her sunlit kitchen to mix herself a smoothie and accidentally stirred up some beef.

In a social media video that captured the moment, she explained she’d been attending one of her eponymous book clubs the day before and asked a group of 10 women how many of them were using artificial intelligence. Just three of them were, only one confidently so.