This report looks into civil society organisations’ (CSOs) perspectives on artificial intelligence, with a particular focus on AI-related gender bias, existing mitigation practices, and the structural constraints shaping CSO engagement.
CSOs are positioned as key instruments of democratic accountability within the European AI governance landscape, with close connections to gender-marginalised communities and their lived experiences of discrimination.
The study adopts a lifeworld perspective that foregrounds how AI-related gender bias is experienced and understood in everyday organisational practice. Drawing on existing research, the report recognises that bias can emerge at any stage of the AI lifecycle, resulting in the overrepresentation, underrepresentation, or misrepresentation of particular groups and influencing decision-making processes. Methodologically, the study combines quantitative data from an online survey of CSO workers and activists with qualitative insights from participatory workshops.
Findings show that CSOs demonstrate high awareness of AI-related risks, particularly in relation to gender bias, democratic erosion, intensified surveillance, and a lack of transparency and accountability among technology providers and public authorities. While CSOs frequently use AI systems, the study finds limited optimism regarding technical benefits such as efficiency gains, increased speed, or cost reduction.
Overall, the report highlights a critical tension between CSOs’ awareness of AI-related gender risks and their constrained capacity to translate this knowledge into sustained action. It underscores the need for AI governance approaches that move beyond formal consultation to enable meaningful civil society participation through targeted funding, access to deliberative spaces, and greater scrutiny of platform practices that marginalise CSO voices.
This publication can be downloaded from Zenodo. The publication hasn’t yet been reviewed and approved by the European Commission.
Authors: Elizabeth Farries, Alexandros Minotakis, Pierre Ratinaud, Loredana Bucseneanu, Sandra Sieron, and Julia Pohle
