As the world marks yet another International Women’s Day on Saturday, the conversation revolves once more around progress made and hurdles yet to be overcome. Let's face it: despite significant achievements in women’s rights, a vast reservoir of female potential remains untapped — especially in fields shaping the future, such as artificial intelligence and data science. But what if the accelerating fusion of natural intelligence with artificial intelligence — hybrid intelligence — could help increase quotas and dismantle the underpinning structural barriers that have put a lid on female flourishing? By combining women’s unique perspectives with the algorithmic power of AI, leveraging hybrid intelligence, we can catalyze social transformations that benefit everyone.

Women are uniquely poised to champion a holistic approach that honors the unity of mind and body, self and society. In what follows, we examine how such an approach — powered by hybrid intelligence — can finally offer women and girls the space they have merited since humanity’s earliest days.

Leveraging the Undervalued Half of Hybrid Intelligence: Human Potential

Historically, women’s voices have often been sidelined, limiting their roles in technology, governance, and cultural discourse. Even as scientific and technological revolutions reshaped the world, women’s contributions were frequently overlooked or wholly omitted. This omission has fueled a global STEM gender gap: women comprise only around 33% of researchers worldwide, with their representation in AI research remaining even lower.

That trend characterizes both research and the use of generative AI. Synthesizing data from 18 studies covering over 140,000 individuals worldwide, a 2025 study reveals that women are about 22% less likely than men to use GenAI tools — even after controlling for occupation, age, field of study, and location; web traffic analyses show that women comprise only 42% of ChatGPT users and 31% of Claude users.

As AI systems guide decisions in business and leisure, from education via healthcare to finance and beyond, the need for inclusive leadership has never been more acute. Women’s experiences and evolutionary skillsets uniquely prepare them to ensure that AI solutions serve all of humanity rather than a narrow subset.

Read the full article about leveraging hybrid intelligence by Cornelia C. Walther at Forbes.