Networking group supports women through the AI shift

As artificial intelligence (AI) proliferates in workplaces, there are different perceptions related to use of the tools. Toronto-based women’s networking group Monday Girl published research earlier this year that found only 36 per cent of women felt confident using AI compared with 52 per cent of men. Women were also more likely than men to worry about AI’s negative consequences.

“A lot of women feel like they’re cheating when it comes to using AI,” says Rachel Wong, co-founder of Monday Girl. The findings prompted Monday Girl to create AI-focused panels and workshops for its members. “Education is empowerment. Knowing how these tools work is so key.”

What might be a confidence gap today could turn into a career gap in the future, says Katrina Lawrence, a senior trainer and AI practice lead at Rogers Cybersecure Catalyst, Toronto Metropolitan University’s centre for technology security. “AI literacy is becoming more of a workplace skill rather than just like a bonus.”

Ms. Lawrence says when companies are looking to set up frameworks before adopting AI internally, they don’t need an unwieldy rulebook. “Start with four or five questions that everyone can use.”

Among them: What data is going into the tool? Is any of it sensitive? Is the output intended simply for brainstorming or will it ultimately reach a client? Crucially, who remains accountable for the result?

“If you are using the AI tool, then you are responsible for its output,” Ms. Lawrence says.

Buying licenses isn’t enough, she adds. She recommends company-wide training, opportunities to experiment, and practical instruction tied to actual jobs.

At Monday Girl, Ms. Wong is happy to let AI crunch the company’s numbers, pull dashboards and take meeting notes. That tech support has helped her five-person team expand the organization into the United States, where nearly 40 per cent of its 5,000-person membership is now based.

“Anytime we can use AI to automate the boring, not-so-glamorous things, that’s where we see it having a huge advantage for us,” Ms. Wong says.

Monday Girl emerged after Ms. Wong and her co-founder, Istiana Bestari, had grown frustrated with panels and conferences where they never saw themselves reflected as young professional women. In 2017, they founded Monday Girl as a Facebook group. The membership-based organization now includes mentorship, weekly newsletters, events and summits in Toronto, New York and San Francisco.

While they use AI for other purposes, they draw a hard line against it when it comes to brand voice. “We hate AI slop,” Ms. Wong says. They may use generative AI to mock up graphics, but Monday Girl’s graphic designer creates the final product.

Ms. Lawrence says AI should be for repetitive, transactional work – as Monday Girl’s team is using it – while protecting the parts of the job that rely on trust, creativity and judgement. “At our core, we’re all still human. We all still want to see each other and have those like real relationships, and not just virtual ones,” she says.

At one of their events, Monday Girl “vibe coded” a tool (building an app or website through word prompts rather than writing code) that allowed attendees to create profiles with their experience and interests. From there, users could find a mentor to meet on-site. Those with AI expertise were among the fastest to book up.

“A lot of people come to our platform with the hopes of self-improvement,” Ms. Wong says. “AI is not going to go away. How can they make sure that they themselves are prepared?”