 |
|
|
|||||
The narrative is familiar: Revolutionary technology arrives, promising to liberate women from domestic drudgery and professional constraints. The electric oven would free housewives from coal-burning stoves. The washing machine would eliminate laundry day. The microwave would make meal preparation effortless. Yet as historian Ruth Schwartz Cowan argued in her landmark book, More Work for Mother, these innovations didnt reduce womens workload. They simply shifted expectations, creating new standards of cleanliness and convenience that often meant more work, not less. So when we speak of AI as the solution to professional and personal burdens, skepticism is warranted. After all, technology has repeatedly promised liberation while delivering new forms of constraint. The question isnt whether AI will change professional and personal work; its whether this change will finally favor womens autonomy rather than merely reorganizing their obligations. Recent data Duckbill collected alongside Harris Poll reveals that 47% of women avoid asking for help to prevent burdening others. This hesitation reflects not just conditioning around self-sacrifice, but hard-won wisdom about technological promises that rarely materialize as advertised. SELF-LIMITATION ISNT ALL ON US The reluctance to seek assistance isnt a character flaw; its a rational behavior within systems that have historically penalized women for taking up space. When 31% of women aged 18-34 procrastinate on booking their own medical appointments, and 76% report that even in their free time it feels like there is something they should be doing, were witnessing the manifestation of decades of messaging that female needs are inherently secondary. This isnt about women doing it wrong. Its about women making calculated decisions within structures that werent designed for their success. AI PROVIDES AN ALGORITHMIC ADVANTAGE What makes AI uniquely positioned to address this dynamic is its fundamental departure from human-built social contracts. Theres no emotional labor required, no reciprocal obligation, no concern about imposing on someones bandwidth. Theres no judgment. The technology can exist to purely augment human capability, making it perhaps the first truly guilt-free form of assistance available at scale. Consider the surgeon who uses AI to optimize her schedule, allowing her to focus on life-saving procedures, rather than administrative minutiae. What if that surgeon also used AI to handle her insurance claim after a kitchen flood, researching coverage details, coordinating with adjusters, and handling repairs? Or the venture capitalist who has AI analyze market trends and simultaneously asks for it to research the best schools for her daughter, approaching both with the same fidelity and precision. These are examples of resource allocation that refuses to compartmentalize professional efficiency and personal fulfillment. Unlike previous technologies that further entrenched women in prescribed roles, AI has the potential to follow women across all domains of life. So, how do we fix this? 1. Redefine productivity as self-care When 78% of young women report they are simply trying to get through the day, were looking at a crisis of sustainable solutions. AI offers an alternative: What if getting things done could be both excellent and guilt-free? This shift requires a fundamental reframing for women. Instead of asking Am I capable of doing this myself? the question becomes Is this the highest and best use of my capabilities and time? Suddenly, outsourcing restaurant research or flight refunds isnt lazy, its strategic. And when tasks are streamlined and coordination becomes effortless, the mental bandwidth that was once consumed by logistics is freed up for vision, creativity, and genuine rest. Unlike previous technologies that created new forms of performance pressure, AIs most radical feature could be its indifference to human social hierarchies and gendered expectations. 2. Shape the algorithm to work for us For AI to truly serve womens needs rather than simply digitizing existing biases, women must be active participants in shaping these tools. Women are adopting AI at rates 25% less than their male counterparts. That adoption gap isnt just a missed opportunity for individual efficiency; its a systemic risk that AI development will continue to prioritize male perspectives and use cases. Every time a woman trains an AI assistant on her specific work, teaches it to understand her communication style, or provides feedback on its suggestions, shes contributing to a more inclusive technological future. This is not just about representationits about functionality. We cannot afford to let this technology develop without us, only to discover later that it replicates the same systems that have historically constrained us. WOMEN DESERVE SUPPORT WITHOUT LIMITS In a culture that has long demanded women take on more tasks to become more, AI represents something revolutionary: technology that encourages taking up space by alleviating pressures. Its permission to ask for what you need without apology, to optimize for you rather than survival, to treat your time and energy as genuinely valuable resources. The women who understand this arent just early adopters of technology, theyre pioneers of a new paradigm where support isnt scarce, help isnt shameful, and free time is not a luxury, but a human right. In embracing AI, theyre not just changing how shit gets done, theyre modeling what it looks like when women are able to be as big as their ambitions demand. Meghan Joyce is cofounder and CEO of Duckbill.
Category:
E-Commerce
ChatGPT can make mistakes. Check important info. How many times have you seen that message? More importantly, how many times have you actually stopped to consider what it means? No doubt youve noticed italong with millions of others who now rely on AI for everything from planning product launches and rewriting emails to turning their beloved pets into cartoons. The adoption speed has been remarkable. In just a few years, AI has gone from a buzzword to a daily fixture in countless workplaces. And for many, its already hard to remember what work looked like without it. Like anything that makes life easier, its easy to see why it caught on so quickly. Whats harder to see (and easier to forget), though, is how quickly weve tuned out can make mistakes. Thats why business leaders must be deliberate about how they integrate AI into their operations and clear about where human judgment must lead. SPEED AND THE ILLUSION OF INTELLIGENCE AIs value is undeniable. It can summarize meetings, analyze data, write copy, solve coding problems, create images, and so much more. That amounts to real progress, unlocking hours that can be focused on more creative and strategic work. But as AI becomes increasingly embedded in our lives, and its work becomes better and better, it also becomes easier to overestimate what it can do. Part of that stems from fear. If we believe it can replace us, we start to believe it can think like us. We need to be clear-eyed: AI does not actually think. Not yet, anyway. It predicts what words are likely to come next. Its a mirror into the ideas, concepts, and content that already exist in the world. When we forget that, we stop questioning. We assume that because something sounds smart, it is smart. And thats where mistakes begin. WHY HUMAN JUDGMENT WILL ALWAYS BE A DIFFERENTIATOR The more powerful AI becomes (and it will!), the more tempting it will be to pass off not just the underlying tasks, but also the reasoning behind them. If judgment were as simple as analyzing data and making a decision based solely on that, wed be in trouble. The reality, however, is that judgment requires interpretation, empathy, and lived experience. As a communications professional of nearly 20 years, its easy for me to imagine how badly AI overreliance could go wrong. Picture a company embroiled in a public controversy. Rather than consulting with someone who has years of experience navigating corporate crises, the in-house team turns to AI for a statement. Absent context or emotional intelligence, even a well-phrased message can make a bad situation worse. Not to mention those excessive em dashes in the company statement will be an obvious flag to anyone whos read copy drafted by AI. Its not just outlier events, either. Every day, business leaders must decide how to communicate sensitive changes, interpret market signals, and navigate nuanced situations, all of which require perspective. AI can tell you whats been said or done before, in whatever format you wantand what a useful tool that is alone. It can surface information, make suggestions, and help speed execution, but human oversight will always be crucial. What if the right course of action based on a lifetime of experience is to take an approach thats never been done before? If we can only look back and use that intel to inform decisions, how do we truly evolve? BUILD A TRUST, BUT VERIFY CULTURE AI is the first technological innovation that appears to possess true intelligence, which makes maintaining a healthy dose of skepticism essential. Trust, but verify isnt about second-guessing technology, its about recognizing how AI can make our lives easier and more efficient without losing what makes us unique: Our lived experience. That starts with everyday habits. Remember, AI is a starting point, not the finished product. Encourage your team to ask: Does this sound right to me? Would I stand by this if my name was attached to it? Whether verifying facts and stats, confirming sources, or reviewing tone and feel, these actions prevent speed from turning into sloppiness. As leaders, we must set the tone. By framing AI as a tool for making us more efficientnot a replacement for human judgmentwe reinforce what will always drive great work: judgment, creativity, and accountability. Grace Keith Rodriguez is CEO of Caliber Corporate Advisers.
Category:
E-Commerce
Why do some climate innovations fail to deliver? Not because theyre flawed, but because the business world misjudges their economics. From hydrogen to EV infrastructure, carbon-capture startups to precision farming tools, companies around the world are pouring money into climate tech. But for every promising climate innovation that scales, several more fizzle out too soon. Not because the science doesnt work. But because the business case was either overestimated or underestimated at the wrong time. In the race to build the future, too many businesses are still blowing it on climate economics. Some assume customers will pay for green solutions at any price. Others abandon high-potential technologies too early. And many charge ahead without evaluating the unintended consequences of their choices. THE COST MISCONCEPTION A persistent myth in climate innovation is that virtue sells and customers will choose sustainability regardless of cost. In my years of working as an innovation leader, I have discovered how wrong that is. According to Boston Consulting Group, although up to 80% of consumers say they care about sustainability, only 1-7% have actually paid a premiumfor green products. Industrial buyers also hesitate to switch to cleaner inputs that cost more upfront. In other words, climate friendliness alone rarely triggers a purchase. Its not that people dont care. Its that price sensitivity hasnt vanished just because climate urgency has arrived. A mistake many innovators make is assuming that having a good solution is enough, that if the environmental benefit is clear, customers will adopt it, no matter the cost. This is often not the case, especially in markets without subsidies, mandates, or strong brand loyalty. Weve seen this play out in everything from early EV adoption gaps in rural regions, to low uptake of biodegradable materials in price-sensitive markets. Companies often overestimate what their customers will pay, and as a result, misalign their go-to-market strategy from the start. THE EARLY-STAGE TRAP On the flip side, some climate solutions get written off too early. When a solution looks expensive or inefficient at first, companies often pull the plug before the technology has a chance to evolve. But thats exactly how breakthrough technologies start, and it also takes time and so you need a lot of patience. The most promising climate solutions usually have three things in common: They target a big problem worth solving, they take a radical or unconventional approach, and they rely on some kind of revolutionary technology with a testable hypothesis. Too often, we stop pursuing technologies simply because we assume they’ll never become economical. But that thinking ignores historical proof. Take solar panels. Once madly expensive and reliant on subsidies, their cost has plummeted so much that theyre now among the cheapest energy sources globally. Battery storage, wind power, and electric vehicles are a similar case in point. Costs dropped drastically only after years of heavy investment, iteration, and learning. Not every climate innovation will scale. But the ones with game-changing potential often look uneconomical in their early phases. The winners are the companies that know how to identify which uneconomical ideas are worth nurturing and stay disciplined in how they invest in them. THE UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES Another costly mistake? Focusing so narrowly on solving one climate problem that you accidentally create another. When businesses obsess over metrics like CO reduction without examining broader impacts, innovation can backfire. A climate solution that reduces emissions but compensates by heavy use of rare earth minerals may come with geopolitical risks or social and environmental harm elsewhere in the supply chain. But climate innovation isnt a one-variable equation. Companies that want to lead in this space must ask the harder questions about systems impacts. TOWARD SMARTER EVALUATION For companies looking to avoid these costly mistakes, it all begins with how climate innovations are evaluated not just in the lab, but in the boardroom. That means beyond gut instinct or conventional ROI models. In practice, it translates to using tools like scenario planning to anticipate how potential policy changes. Raw material prices or consumer attitudes might affect the solutions economics. Or scorecards that keep track of multiple criteria simultaneously over time. Or portfolio approaches that consider long-term impact alongside short-term feasibility. Most importantly, businesses need to embrace a degree of uncertainty. Not every innovation needs to deliver immediate profit to be worth pursuing, but not every green idea deserves a blank check either. The challengeand the opportunitylies in making smarter, more nuanced investment bets. FROM BLIND BETS TO SMART BETS The pressure to deliver climate solutions is only going to grow. And thats great! But beware that good intentions dont guarantee good outcomes. Too often, businesses fall into one of three traps Ive discussed: overestimating willingness to pay, underestimating long-term potential, or failing to think systemically. The companies that will lead in the next decade will be the ones that avoid those traps. The ones that approach climate innovation with clear-eyed economics, strategic discipline, and a willingness to learn over time will be the ones to succeed. Lets look at the big picture: Misjudging the economics of climate innovation doesnt just waste money. It delays progress. It undermines trust. And it squanders real opportunities to build a future thats both sustainable and successful, one where innovation delivers both to drive profits and preserve the planet. Anantha Desikan is executive vice president and chief research development & innovation officer at ICL Group.
Category:
E-Commerce
All news |
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||