Critical Reflectors, Bridge-Builders, and Sense-Makers: How Designers Intervene in AI’s Reproduction of Gender Inequality

Authors

• Sanita Budihardjo, University of Sydney, AustraliaFollow
• Kazjon Grace, University of Sydney, AustraliaFollow
• Josie Young, University of Sydney, AustraliaFollow
• Yiying Wu, University of Sydney, AustraliaFollow

Abstract

In recent years, AI has become increasingly entangled with design practice, whether as a tool, a design material, or a collaborator. Alongside these opportunities, it is necessary to recognise AI as a socio-technical system that reproduces existing gender hierarchies. Treating design as a political site of intervention; this paper examines how designers can ground their practice in addressing gender bias in AI. Drawing on a scoping review of gender bias in AI, feminist design perspectives, and existing interventions in design research, we argue that designers occupy a consequential role as critical reflectors, bridge-builders, and sense-makers, uniquely positioned to question how AI systems are implemented and represented. The paper contribution lies in articulating how designers can embrace this position, and we conclude by reasserting the necessity of feminist design responses in shaping more equitable AI futures.

Keywords

artificial intelligence, gender bias, feminist design

DOI

https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2026.1721

Citation

Budihardjo, S., Grace, K., Young, J., and Wu, Y. (2026) Critical Reflectors, Bridge-Builders, and Sense-Makers: How Designers Intervene in AI’s Reproduction of Gender Inequality, in Simeone, L., Gray, C. M., Verhoeven, A., de Götzen, A., Bakırlıoğlu, Y., Zohar, H., Stead, M., and Buwert, P. (eds.), DRS2026: Edinburgh, 8–12 June, Edinburgh, United Kingdom. https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2026.1721

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License