AI is everywhere. It's drafting emails, summarizing meetings, and helping people work faster than ever before. Used critically and thoughtfully, it has the power to increase productivity, unlock creativity, and free people to focus on the work that *really* matters.

AI isn't without its flaws. It can hallucinate, reinforce misinformation, and reflect the biases embedded in the data it learns from. Those issues have sparked important conversations about building AI more responsibly. Yet there's another bias emerging, and it’s one that has nothing to do with the technology itself: bias against the people who use it. 

Former Meta strategist Zehra Chatoo, founder of Code For Good, wanted to understand how AI use influences hiring decisions. She created two identical AI-assisted resumes. The only difference was the name at the top: one belonged to "Emily Clarke" and the other to "James Clarke." Participants were told both candidates had used AI to help write their resume. The results are difficult to ignore.

97% of reviewers considered James a strong candidate. Emily's identical resume earned that same confidence with only 76% of reviewers. Reviewers were 2x as likely to question Emily's competence for using AI, while James was praised for being resourceful and showing initiative. Emily was also 22% more likely to be viewed as less trustworthy. One reviewer commented, "She can't even write a CV herself." James, on the other hand, was described as someone who "just needed a bit of help putting it together." Perhaps most surprising, the strongest bias came from Gen Z men who were AI users themselves. They were 3.5x more likely to describe Emily's resume as weaker than James'.

These findings reveal something much bigger than hiring bias. They expose what researchers are calling a competence penalty, a workplace bias where women are perceived as less capable than their peers when they utilize AI tools. Companies are encouraging employees to embrace AI, and leaders are telling their teams to experiment with new tools and build AI literacy. If women are judged more harshly for using those same tools, they're being asked to navigate a workplace where the rules aren't applied equally.

That helps explain another trend. Women consistently report adopting AI at lower rates than men. One might assume that's because women are less interested in the technology, but the evidence suggests otherwise. Many women understand AI's value, but they also understand the risks. Women are more likely to question AI's accuracy, consider its ethical implications, and worry about how its use will be perceived. In an environment where identical work is judged differently depending on who submits it, that caution isn't a lack of confidence, it's a rational response to an uneven playing field. 

The people who build AI already don't fully reflect the people who use it. Women remain significantly underrepresented in AI leadership, which means the systems being developed are shaped by a narrower set of perspectives. Generative AI models continue to evolve based on how people interact with them, what they ask, and the data they're exposed to. If the majority of builders and adopters are men, those systems risk becoming even more biased. A UN women study of 133 AI systems found that 44% exhibited gender bias, and 25% demonstrated both gender and racial bias. 

Organizations can't afford for anyone to sit on the sidelines. AI is a competitive advantage and employees who know how to use it effectively save time, increase productivity, and can devote more energy to higher-value work. As Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has famously said, "You're not going to lose your job to AI. You're going to lose your job to someone who uses AI."

But if one group receives praise for using AI while another receives skepticism, we risk widening workplace inequities that already exist (the glass ceiling, the motherhood penalty, and wage gap to name a few).

This isn't simply about teaching people how to use AI. Companies are already investing billions in AI training and transformation, and globally, corporate AI investment is expected to rise by 47% this year. The harder work is changing the culture around AI adoption. Leaders need to set clear expectations for responsible AI use, evaluate people on the quality of their thinking rather than whether they used AI to get there, and actively challenge the biases that shape perceptions of competence. AI may be changing how we work, but the challenge is changing the systems that decide whose work is valued in the first place.

For more than 165 years, The Atlantic has brought us thoughtful reporting on the ideas shaping our world. The Atlantic Festival brings those conversations to life with voices across politics, business, technology, and culture. This year hear from: Florence Pugh, Padma Lakshmi, Briana Scurry, Alison Roman, Whitney Wolfe Herd, and more.

The best ideas are meant to be shared. That’s why The Atlantic has created an exclusive offer for The Female Quotient community. Bring a +1, or a few, and invite your mentor, mentee, colleagues, or leadership team, and keep the conversation going long after the festival ends. See you there!

Tasmia Rahman is an entrepreneur, business strategist, and attorney who has worked in cyber security, venture capital, and educational technology. She is the Founder of Atlantic Ivy, an academy based in Dubai that offers students in the Gulf Cooperation Council region the opportunity to participate in international tournaments, and receive education in debate, public speaking, and writing. Tasmia approaches her work with a global lens, a passion for emerging technology, and a focus on what she believes truly matters: a commitment to projects that educate and empower the next generation of leaders.

What’s the worst career advice you’ve gotten?

“Stick to one path and not take risks until you're older”. We’re taught this by society from a young age, but I'm really glad that I’ve ignored it. If I waited for the “perfect” time, Atlantic Ivy, the company I founded in my twenties, would have never existed. I’ve learned that the best opportunities can come from jumping before you feel ready. Playing it safe can be the biggest risk of all.

What’s the best piece of non-obvious career advice you’ve gotten?

When I worked at a startup in Silicon Valley, one of my mentors said, “Stop networking with people in your industry. They all think like you.” This was really counterintuitive to what we're always taught; you network within your industry because you can discuss similar challenges and experiences.

It’s the conversations with founders in different spaces that can create new paths. This especially rang true with Atlantic Ivy. I founded the company in Dubai, where there are so many different industries, like health, technology, and hospitality. Being able to network with different founders and professionals in those industries and hear a breadth of diverse perspectives taught me to think of questions I’d never previously considered, and to challenge assumptions within the education industry.

What was a heartbeat moment for you in your career?

By the time I was a senior in college, I was burnt out from chasing achievement instead of purpose and meaning. I was doing everything to look successful, but I felt unfulfilled. I think it’s a common trap that people fall into, whether they are in an academic or professional setting. From that moment on, I measured my success based on impact and joy. 

So I quit the job I had worked so hard for in order to chase my passion. It was difficult starting a company and moving to Dubai, a place I'd never been to before. But I had a heartbeat moment when we took the first cohort of students to Harvard to compete. Afterwards, Harvard sent us a letter of recognition, stating that they had never had participation from that part of the world before. I was so proud because we had created an international place to foster opportunity. It was no longer an idea in a Google doc, but a physical thing that was right in front of us.

Who is one person you’d love to give flowers to from your career that influenced your journey? What advice or lesson did you learn from them?

I’d give flowers to Mohaimina "Mina" Haque, the CEO of Tony Roma's and the Principal Attorney & Founder of her own law office. I saw on LinkedIn that she was also Bangladeshi, and I thought, “There's not many female Bangladeshi lawyers out there.” I reached out and we connected. Since then, she has been an incredible mentor to me, in navigating my career and in how I show up as a leader. She is a founder of two companies and balances having a family at the same time. She taught me what real confidence looks like: being calm, steady, and unapologetically yourself.

Where have you caused some good trouble in your career?

I've caused good trouble in designing programs that give students in the Gulf Cooperation Council region access to international experiences, while also placing a focus on public speaking and critical thinking. Those skills aren't always prioritized in education or industry. People focus on “Where's the data?” or “How do you make money?” But in this world of growing AI and technology, those are the skills that are going to be the most necessary. There need to be more opportunities for students to feel comfortable in their own skin and to advocate for their ideas.

Want to nominate a leader you admire? You can do so here.

Rachel Apirian of The Female Quotient weighs in:

Getting criticism can certainly be tough, making the old adage of “it’s not personal, it’s business” feel like a lie. Feedback often feels personal because our work is personal. We invest our time, energy, judgment, and creativity into it. When someone critiques the work, it's easy to feel like they're critiquing us.

There's a reason for that. Research shows our brains often process criticism as a threat, triggering the same fight-or-flight response that makes it difficult to think clearly in the moment. The challenge isn't eliminating that reaction, it's learning not to let it dictate how we respond.

There’s a silver lining! Constructive criticism isn't necessarily a sign that you've failed; it's often a sign that someone believes you're capable of more and wants to help you succeed. Listen, ask questions, look for patterns, and separate what is useful from what isn't. Not every piece of feedback should be acted on, but every piece of feedback is data.

Once the initial emotion has passed, ask yourself: What can I learn from this? Is this feedback specific to this project, or does it reveal a larger opportunity for growth? And make sure your manager can see that you're acting on it. One of the clearest signals of growth is demonstrating that you've taken feedback seriously and adjusted your approach. Managers don't expect perfection, but they do expect progress. If the same feedback surfaces repeatedly without any visible effort to improve, it can signal a lack of self-awareness or coachability. The goal isn't to get everything right immediately. It's to show that you're listening, learning, and committed to your role. 

Bottom line: Use critical feedback to develop the self-awareness, resilience, and confidence to learn from it without letting it define you.

P.S. Got a burning career question? Serve it up here to Dear FQ to score advice from a powerhouse leader in our network.

When it comes to advancement, what is the secret sauce? The majority of employees say it’s all about relationship building. In today's workplace, opportunities, influence, and growth often travel through people. The stronger your network, the stronger your support system.

Critical thinking came in second. In an age where AI can generate answers in seconds, the advantage isn't having all the information, it's knowing what to do with it. The people who advance are the ones who can question assumptions, connect the dots, and make sound decisions.

The common thread is that the skills that matter most are human ones. Relationships, judgment, and adaptability are difficult to automate and increasingly valuable to master.

Say my name, say my name 🎶

Xo,

The FQ

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