Two Women Had a Business Meeting. AI Called It Childcare.
How biased data quietly rewrites gender roles — and what it means for the next generation of family tech. Sophia Bender Koning 5 min read · Just now Just now -- Listen Share
The “Emily / Sophia” Problem
Every Tuesday and Thursday from 8:30 to 9:30 AM, I hop on a call with my co-founder, Emily. Boston ↔ England. Our calendar just says “Emily / Sophia.” It’s my personal Gmail and her consultancy address — back from before we had a company name, much less a domain.
Press enter or click to view image in full size My Morning Calendar
When I tested our AI calendar analysis — meant to surface important family commitments outside standard work hours — it flagged our meeting. Great — it worked!
But it interpreted it as we were meeting to discuss childcare. Two women on a recurring event? Must be child-rearing-related.
Not a cross-Atlantic startup stand-up. Not product decisions. Not fundraising. Just… who’s watching whose kids.
Yes, I could “prompt” it: babysitting events in my life look like “Emily babysitting” or “Emily at home.” But I shouldn’t have to teach a system that two women can be co-founders.
Would the same model assume “David/Michael” is childcare? We all know the answer.
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