Navigating the Dual-Edged Sword of Artificial Intelligence in India’s Transforming Digital Landscape: A WomAIze Model
Rukmani
Assistant Professor of Political Science, Sharda School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Sharda University Greater Noida, India
The paper examines the dual impact of Artificial Intelligence on women’s economic empowerment in India through the newly invented concept WomAIze, which captures AI’s simultaneous capacity to empower and challenge women’s socio-economic participation within the broader context of Indian society. The term combines Wom (women), AI (artificial intelligence), and -Ize (transformation), reflecting AI as a double-edged transformative force that creates opportunities while also generating structural risks. Using this conceptual framework, the study analyses how AI expands employment opportunities, strengthens entrepreneurship, enhances income generation, and improves digital skill acquisition, while simultaneously raising concerns related to automation, algorithmic bias, digital inequality, and limited female representation in AI development. Findings indicate strong respondent confidence in AI-driven socio-economic advancement supported by institutional initiatives promoting digital inclusion and financial empowerment. Qualitative evidence further highlights the role of AI in enabling flexible work arrangements, remote employment, and business growth across different age groups. However, persistent challenges underline the need for inclusive governance, ethical regulation, and targeted capacity-building measures to ensure that AI-led transformation results in equitable and sustainable women’s empowerment outcomes, culminating in the development of the WomAIze Model, an original analytical framework explaining AI’s dual transformative role in women’s economic empowerment.
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