2025 - FES Future of Work - Policy Conference

The plenary will address how artificial intelligence systems risk perpetuating and amplifying gender biases unless ethical standards and diverse representation are embedded throughout their development, deployment, and use. Drawing on Ivana Bartoletti’s work, it will highlight the need for stronger governance, transparency, and gender-inclusive digital policies—particularly within the EU—to ensure that AI fosters gender equality rather than reinforcing existing inequalities.  The follow-up political panel will raise critical questions such as: How can we encourage EU and national institutions to take a more proactive approach in fully integrating women’s rights into digital policy frameworks?

The plenary is co-hosted by the Foundation for European Progressive Studies (FEPS) and the Friedrich-Ebert Stiftung (FES). 

Ivana Bartoletti  is Vice President, Global Data Privacy and AI Governance Officer at Wipro, the leading international information technology, consulting, and business process services company.  An internationally recognised thought leader in privacy, AI governance, and responsible technology, Ivana serves as an expert for the Council of Europe, where she co-authored a pivotal study examining the impact of artificial intelligence on gender equality.  In her latest book, A Digital Union: Based on European Values (published by FEPS), Ivana delves into forward-thinking strategies for shaping Europe’s digital and AI policy landscape. She is a co-editor of The AI Book, released by Wiley, which serves as a comprehensive resource for investors, entrepreneurs, and fintech innovators.  She also authored An Artificial Revolution: On Power, Politics, and AI (published by Indigo Press), which explores AI at the intersection of technology, geopolitics, governance and ethics.

As AI systems become increasingly embedded in our societies, their impact on equality and non-discrimination raises urgent challenges, particularly around automation, bias, accountability, and fundamental rights. This workshop will explore the risks and potential of AI for equality across key EU policy areas — from employment and health to education and security — highlighting the need for specific workplace AI regulations and an intersectional approach to building a fairer digital ecosystem. It will also examine how policymakers can respond to the growing power of Big Tech while ensuring AI systems promote fairness, transparency, and accountability.

This  parallel workshop is co-hosted by the Foundation for European Progressive Studies (FEPS), the Friedrich-Ebert Stiftung (FES), Gender5+ and the EUGENDERING Jean Monnet Chair.

The rollout of AI and algorithmic systems poses significant gender-specific risks to workers’ safety and well-being. AI-driven surveillance and performance metrics can disproportionately impact women, reinforcing workplace inequalities and limiting autonomy. Additionally, these technologies can enable gender-based violence and cyberviolence, heighten workplace harassment, and deploy invasive emotional recognition systems that track and influence workers’ expressions, undermining privacy and psychological well-being.

This  parallel workshop is co-hosted by the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) and  the Friedrich-Ebert Stiftung (FES). 

The AI Act defines AI literacy as the skills and knowledge needed to use AI responsibly while understanding its opportunities, risks, and harms, including its impact on gender and intersecting inequalities. Strengthening AI literacy is vital to expose how AI systems can reinforce biases, systematically exclude women and marginalized groups, and to equip trade unions and civil society to demand greater transparency, fairness, and accountability. This is key to ensuring AI supports equality and workers’ rights rather than replicating or deepening existing discrimination.

This  parallel workshop is co-hosted by the SFI Research Centre for AI-driven Digital Content Technology (ADAPT),  the Friedrich-Ebert Stiftung (FES), the European Network of Equality Bodies (Equinet), TUAC, Financial Service Union, DGB and SSSH/UATUC Union of Autonomous Trade Unions of Croatia.