With advanced research happening in the realm of artificial intelligence (AI), the technology is poised to become smarter than its human creators. But until that day, it is like to harbour sexist, racist and even homophobic tendencies – all inherited from its makers' social and cultural biases. This was discussed at some length last year at Rising, one of the country's biggest gatherings of women trailblazers in the fields of data science and AI. Held on March 8 to commemorate Women's Day, the one-day event hosted more than 250 participants and featured more than 15 sessions led by industry leaders, mostly women. One of the speakers on the occasion, Director of Citi Saraswathi Ramachandra, provoked a discussion around a hotly debated topic – Is AI sexist.

Managing director of AI at Accenture in Canada, host of The AI Effect podcast with Amber Mac, which launches Season 2 on Oct. 23 Artificial intelligence (AI) is bringing amazing changes to the workplace, and it's raising a perplexing question: Are those robots sexist? While it may sound strange that AI could be gender-biased, there's evidence that it's happening when organizations aren't taking the right steps. In the age of #MeToo and the drive to achieve gender parity in the workplace, it's critical to understand how and why this occurs and to continue to take steps to address the imbalance. At Accenture, a global professional services company, we have set a goal to have a gender-balanced work force by 2025. There is no shortage of examples that demonstrate how a diverse mindset leads to better results, from reports of crash test dummies that are modelled only on male bodies, to extensive academic studies on the performance improvements at firms with higher female representation.