“Women are using AI like they use the web, but they’re not part of its design or development and that needs to change,” said Dame Wendy, Regius Professor of Computer Science at the University of Southampton and Director of its Web Science Institute.

Speaking ahead of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland (ICAS) Annual Conference in London on 5 November, which is open to the wider business community to attend, Dame Wendy shared her views on the changes AI will bring to working life, why the role of women in AI is important and the UK’s potential influence in its governance.

Dame Wendy is joined at the ICAS Annual Conference by an exceptional line-up of speakers including astronaut Tim Peake and entrepreneurship expert Susie Warran-Smith. She’s set to speak alongside Nick Fry, former CEO of Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 and non-executive director at McLaren Applied, as part of the event’s panel discussion, ‘Will AI replace accountants – or elevate them?’

ICAS has placed AI at the forefront of not only its Annual Conference agenda but also its approach to learning. To support the AI transition in accountancy, ICAS became the first accountancy professional body to launch a future-fit CA syllabus in 2024, designed to keep pace with rapid developments in AI, data, and sustainability.

As a former President of the British Computer Society, the UK’s first AI Skills Champion, and a member of the UN’s high-level AI advisory body, Dame Wendy has spent her career campaigning for greater gender balance in technology.

“I’ve fought all my career to get more women into technology and now I’m fighting to get more women into AI, because I fiercely believe that while this technology is being used by the whole of society, there’s only a very small proportion of society that’s designing it. Men are running the big tech companies and doing the development.”

Dame Wendy warns that governments are either letting AI develop unhindered, or too cautious, and warns that the current lack of governance in AI could stall progress or worsen inequalities: “What worries me is that we’re making all this progress in a regulation vacuum. We need to be responsible as citizens, tech companies and governments, because otherwise it’s just anarchy.”

She believes the UK has a pivotal role to play in leading on governance and regulation: “The UK has the ability to sidestep overly heavy-handed regulation. We have skills in governance and regulation, and people look to us as a soft power, so we are in a good position to coordinate this.”

On AI’s potential impact on employment, Dame Wendy argues that AI should be seen as a tool for growth, not mass job losses and compared AI to “a new colleague sitting at the table”. She added, “AI will take the drudge out of life, but it doesn’t mean lots of people are going to become jobless. They will be able to do more advanced things while the AI does the routine stuff. Cutting the workforce would be naive and short-sighted.”

ICAS has consistently been vocal on the potential impact of AI on the businesses and issued an open letter to former Chancellor Jeremy Hunt earlier this year, expressing strong disagreement with remarks he made suggesting that graduates should avoid pursuing careers in accountancy due to the rise of artificial intelligence (AI).

Bruce Cartwright CA, ICAS CEO, said: “Dame Wendy is right to call for more women to be at the forefront of AI. If this technology is to serve society fairly, it must be designed by a diverse community, not just a narrow group. At ICAS, we share her belief that AI can and should be used to enhance human potential, not to replace it.

“That’s why we’re proud to have Dame Wendy share her insights on the future of this technology at our Annual Conference this November, where she will undoubtedly challenge business leaders to think boldly about ethical leadership, governance, and the opportunities AI presents when developed and used responsibly.”