The Gender Divide and Labor Market Risks
Mária Bieliková, founder of the Kempelen Institute of Intelligent Technologies and former dean at the Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava, stated that studies predict women will be worse off in the labor market due to artificial intelligence. She argued that this outcome is not inevitable but depends on whether women seize the tools early.
Bieliková cited specific risks associated with AI adoption, including biased hiring algorithms and the disappearance of administrative posts. She noted that while these drawbacks exist, they come with opportunities for those who engage with the technology proactively.
Democracy Undermined by Unelected Power
Beyond labor market concerns, Bieliková expressed concern for democracy, arguing that AI's ability to influence elections undermines a fundamental principle of governance. She noted that unelected data administrators have become powerful while elected officials often support tech titans.
Experts warn that disinformation campaigns and easily made deepfake videos generated by AI will flood online spaces, transforming geopolitics with serious consequences. Bieliková stated that individuals must inform themselves and demand trustworthy sources for every claim rather than believing information automatically.
The Burden of Verification on Citizens
She added that politicians often lack the will to protect citizens from manipulation, placing the responsibility on individuals to verify information. This shift requires a fundamental change in how people process digital content, moving away from automatic belief toward rigorous scrutiny.
Historical Context of AI Development
Bieliková began studying computer science before the World Wide Web was launched from CERN in 1989. She has lived through the development of programming from punch cards, which stored instructions for computers, to large language models, which allows almost anyone to write basic code.
When asked if artificial intelligence could end humanity, Bieliková responded that the question needs to be answered patiently and sometimes with a smile because nobody knows. She described the inquiry as often just speculation and noted there are many more immediate problems that need to be addressed.
She acknowledged that AI is fundamentally different from previous technologies like steam engines but stated she is more afraid of people than the technology itself.
The interview was conducted by Tomáš Hrivňák for Denník N.