Gendering AI — a field recon journey

Who is doing this recon

Tell us how to meet you. The persona you pick rewrites the questions in the passes that follow, so answer it honestly rather than aspirationally.

Which of these is closest to youPick one — it changes what we ask next

I am doing research in the fieldInterviews, observation, data collection, often somewhere with patchy signal. I am starting a business from homeEarly recon: what exists, what it costs, who could help me begin. I am studying or early in my careerLearning the method so I can use it in a project or a job. I advise organisations on technologyI need something defensible to put in front of a decision-maker.

Your name optional — use what you are comfortable with Email or phone only if you want the pack or a reply The AI system you are looking at one sentence: what it decides, and for whom

Who is inside the decision

Say who the system acts upon, who built or bought it, and who is not in the room when either happens.

Who does this system act on?Be concrete: which women, which men, which age, which language Who set it up, and who is accountable when it is wrong?A department, a vendor, a donor programme, a founder Who is not in the room at all?Optional, but this is usually where the finding is

Apply the gender lens

Tick every question you can already answer for the system you named. Leave unticked the ones you cannot — the unticked list is your research design, and that is the point of the exercise.

The six questionsTick at least three — the ones you leave unticked are the finding

Who is countedWhose data is in the training set, and whose is missing or scraped without consent? Who is harmedWhat does one wrong prediction cost a woman here, against what it costs a man? Who decidesWho chose the target the system optimises, and could they be challenged? Who paysIs the unpaid labour that keeps the system running visible, or quietly absorbed by someone? Who is excluded by designDoes using it assume a smartphone, data credit, literacy, or English? Who is stereotypedDoes the output route people into roles by gender rather than by their own record?

Choose your next move

Pick what would actually help you next. This is a working session, not a mailing list — if you would rather keep the recon to yourself, download it instead and send nothing.

What do you need next Where are you working from?Optional — it shapes who we can put you in touch with Anything you want said back to youOptional. The unticked questions above, if you want them turned into a plan.

Gendering AI: four passes over a system that was never built with you in mind.

Start the recon

Who is doing this recon

Who is inside the decision

Apply the gender lens

Choose your next move

Read this back before you send

Your recon is held.

Waiting to send on this device

The blocks this sits on