Digital AI Congress on Gender Equality

On May 3, 2021, more than 200 participants attended the online congress organized by EAF Berlin and the association erfolgsfaktor Frau. The event focused on artificial intelligence from the perspective of gender equality. EAF digital experts Lisa Hanstein and Hanna Völkle helped shape the congress.

Whether in everyday life, the workplace, or politics, digital technology is playing an increasingly central role in almost all areas of social life. There is great hope that digitalization will make complex tasks simpler and time-consuming ones faster. At the same time, examples and use cases are constantly emerging that show how digital technology not only reproduces existing inequalities but can even amplify them through self-learning systems.

Are the achievements in equal opportunity, diversity, and inclusion at risk in a technology-centered society? Can we rely on decision-making support from artificial intelligence (AI)? What impact does this have on the genders, and how can we influence not only technical developments but also the narratives and images surrounding them? Whose logic does the digital world follow?

These and other questions were addressed by the digital congress organized by EAF Berlin and the association erfolgsfaktor FRAU e. V. To reach a broad audience—from municipal equal opportunity officers and corporate diversity managers to interested individuals—various speakers were invited to present their work and engage in discussion.

The event kicked off with a keynote by AI and robotics expert and author Kenza Ait Si Abbou Lyadini on "AI: The Great Opportunity or the Feared Risk?" This was followed by scientific insights into technical and substantive challenges from Theresa Tran, Dr. Teena Hassan, and Jessica Wulf. EAF expert Lisa Hanstein joined Tobias Krafft, Anika Krellmann, and Dr. Katja von der Bey for a Q&A session to discuss potential opportunities and concrete practical examples from the workplace and public administration.

During an interactive break, co-founder and AI expert Katrin Fritsch presented the work of MOTIF —a feminist think tank dedicated to digital culture. The chair of the expert commission for the Third Gender Equality Report of the Federal Government Prof. Dr. Aysel Yollu-Tok presented the current political state of the art and the benchmarks by which gender-equitable digitalization must be measured. She highlighted the central importance of sociotechnical analyses, especially when it comes to AI-based applications.

EAF Senior Expert Hanna Völkle opened the panel to further guests and welcomed Nadine Schön, Member of the Bundestag and member of the Enquete Commission on Artificial Intelligence, as well as Andreas Hartl, Head of Division at the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs, to the digital stage. EAF digital expert Lisa Hanstein completed the panel on feminist visions and political guardrails. "Beyond feminist visions, we explicitly need intersectional perspectives!" Hanstein noted, in a remark that felt more like a starting point than a conclusion.

A detailed documentation of the congress, which was Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth financially supported by, is currently being planned. We will keep you updated on the EAF Berlin website. We would also like to extend our thanks to all contributors and speakers.