AI’s hidden costs for women: Risks to talent and ROI

Organizations are investing heavily in AI to improve productivity, efficiency, and business performance—and many women are already seeing its promise. But AI will be harder to scale if leaders measure adoption and output alone while overlooking whether AI-enabled work is sustainable, equitable, and trusted.

Catalyst’s survey of 1,500+ women¹ using AI at work in Canada and the United States points to three hidden costs that leaders must address to extend AI’s benefits for women and strengthen organizations’ return on their AI investments:

1. The productivity cost: For many women, AI adds work instead of removing it as output expectations rise and employees are expected to learn new tools on their own time.
2. The credibility cost: A double-edged sword punishes women both when they use AI and when they don’t.
3. The talent cost: AI-related workload, credibility concerns, and biased outcomes are linked to burnout and intent to leave.

This women-centered analysis examines how these costs affect women; it does not assume that men are unaffected or make universal claims about gender differences.

Why this matters to business leaders: AI will not deliver its full value if it adds work, creates uncertainty about what good performance looks like, or increases burnout and retention risk for women.