Smart Communications, a digital customer experience company, has released survey data showing a persistent gender divide in attitudes toward AI. The research, spanning healthcare, financial services, and insurance, found that women are as interested in AI as men but consistently more cautious about its potential risks.
CEO O'Malley, who initially hesitated to take the role due to a lack of product or engineering background, now argues that diverse perspectives are critical to addressing the AI trust gap. Her own career journey from marketing and strategy into leadership underscores how non-technical viewpoints can be strengths, not weaknesses.
The findings come from Smart Communications' annual consumer survey covering thousands of respondents across multiple sectors and geographies. Women consistently reported higher levels of concern about AI safety, bias, and misuse compared to their male counterparts, a trend that cuts across every industry and region studied.
This trust gap presents both a challenge and an opportunity for AI companies. If the technology is to achieve broad adoption, developers will need to address the specific concerns of half the population. O'Malley suggests that bringing more women into AI leadership roles could help design systems that earn wider trust.
The data does not specify what those particular concerns are, nor does it measure whether gender-diverse teams actually build more trustworthy AI. The survey's methodology and exact sample sizes were not provided in the report. However, the consistent pattern across sectors suggests a structural issue worth further investigation.