How evolving technology is putting women at risk – The Irish Times
How evolving technology is putting women at risk – The Irish Times
Publish Date: 2026-03-08 01:00:00
Source Domain: www.irishtimes.com
In 2024, over one hundred million AI girlfriend apps were downloaded by users around the world. According to DCU professor Debbie GIng, this and other emerging technology should be “a serious cause of concern”.
Speaking at a live event to mark International Women’s Day – hosted by the Irish Times Women’s Podcast – Ging described how these apps can alter men’s attitudes towards women and girls in real life.
“There’s this argument that it’s about teaching boys how to develop relationships. But what they’re doing is basically abusing them and testing how far they can go with verbal abuse and other kinds of things. They [AI girlfriends] never say no”.
The fact that AI girlfriends will tolerate all kinds of abuse, Ging explained, is a “coding decision”, made in a tech industry that is mostly being “built by men”.
But it’s not just AI relationship apps that the professor of digital media and gender says should be of concern. “Women’s subjugation” is being “baked in” to much of the new technology.
“Even worse, something I found out about recently is another app, where you can talk to chatbots and roleplay violent and illegal acts. You can access brothels staffed by girls under fifteen years old.” The tagline ‘a world without feminism’, she pointed out, is attached to one online brother.
Also speaking on the panel alongside Ging, was international human rights lawyer Caoilfhionn Gallagher, who spoke about the many ways technology is being used to abuse, harass and threaten some of the women she represents in her legal profession.
“One of my clients had pornographic images generated of her, which were then sent to her son’s school,” she told the audience. “That’s a message saying, ‘I know where your son goes to school’, and it’s presenting something which is utterly demeaning of her and then it’s impacting on her real life”.
Gallagher also described the work she does with a charity called Expat…
