Artnet News, in partnership with the Association of Women in the Arts (AWITA), published a series examining gender equity in the art world, including a second annual Hardwiring Change survey. The article reports that 62 percent of over 2,000 arts workers surveyed already use AI tools at work, with ChatGPT the most common entry point. However, research shows AI-driven automation disproportionately threatens women, who are more likely to hold jobs vulnerable to disruption and less likely to be early adopters. The piece highlights how commercial AI startups, like Caroline Taylor's Appraisal Bureau, are entering the art market, but warns that AI models trained on historically biased data risk perpetuating gender discrimination—for example, male artists' works are appraised at 45 percent higher values than female artists'.
This matters because the art world already struggles with structural inequities, including pay gaps and undervaluation of women artists. The article argues that the uncritical embrace of AI could deepen these disparities rather than solve them, especially if datasets reflect past gender biases. By linking AI adoption to the survey's finding that nearly 58 percent of arts workers faced career barriers related to gender, race, or class, the piece underscores the urgency of ensuring new technologies are deployed equitably. It challenges both the "girlbossification" narrative that frames AI as a liberating tool for women and the risk of women being left behind, calling for a more nuanced, gender-aware approach to AI in the arts.