Even a ‘female’ AI chatbot earns less than her male counterpart

Nieuwsblad — 26 August 2025

Even artificial intelligence isn’t immune to gender bias. In a study conducted at the University of Zurich, researchers found that participants were willing to “pay” AI bots with a female appearance 10.25% less than identical male counterparts. The experiment involved assigning participants a virtual workplace task alongside either a male AI named Johan or a female AI named Johanna, with both bots performing exactly the same function. Despite no difference in capability, participants—both male and female—consistently awarded more money to the male AI.

Anand van Zelderen, who co-led the study as a postdoctoral researcher and now serves as Assistant Professor of AI and Business at SKEMA Business School, explains that the only variable was the AI’s perceived gender—suggesting that unconscious bias alone drives the pay gap. The finding is particularly striking given that the gap is more than twice the actual gender wage disparity in Switzerland. It reflects a broader issue: even when technologies are neutral by design, the humans interacting with them bring embedded social biases into the equation.

van Zelderen warns that this isn't just a theoretical problem. As AI becomes more integrated into hiring processes, communication tools, and customer service, these biases could be amplified rather than corrected. If AI mirrors existing societal prejudices, it risks reinforcing outdated stereotypes about gender roles—especially in the workplace. The study underscores a growing need to address not only what AI can do, but also how we, as users, interact with it—and what values we unconsciously project onto machines.

Article by Arnout Gyssels and Sofie Geusens