AI and the reproductive labor: What happens when machines do “women's work”?
Abstract
In the world where everything is now being sarcastically ruled by AI why should the house chore work being done by house wives should be backing off. This paper examines the transformative effect of artificial intelligence (AI) and domestic automation technologies on the dominion of reproductive labor where historically work is assumed to be borne by women within the family. The use of smart appliances, robotic cleaners, and voice-activated assistants has increased significantly and now has become an integral part of every day&s;s life. The automation of housework has ignited both eagerness and review. This study interrogates whether these AI-driven tools effectively improve the physical and mental load which were traditionally being used in sync with domestic labor, or they have merely reconfigure long-lasting household tasks within a technological framework. The analysis has been done on taking qualitative interviews and a inclusive review of existing literature, the important findings suggest that AI technologies offer some degree of relief to the females who are more inclined towards use of smarter ways but at the same time they fall short of upsetting rooted gender roles. In spite of catalyzing a more reasonable distribution of labor, these innovations often risk continuing existing disparities unless escorted by broader mechanical reforms and changes in social approaches toward gender and household work.
Fields of Study & Subjects
Work-Family Balance Challenges
Gender
Labor
and Family Dynamics
Ethics and Social Impacts of AI
Publication details
- Journal / source
- CRC Press eBooks
- Pages
- 196–199
- Publication date
- 2 February 2026
- Language
- EN
- Document type
- Book chapter