Study finds female-presenting AI agents were paid less for equal work

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  A study found that workers allocated about 10% more pay to a male-presenting AI agent than to a female-presenting agent doing the same work.

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  Researchers at the University of Limerick conducted the study with 189 knowledge workers in a virtual reality office.

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  Participants evaluated three AI agents with different presentations and allocated pay based on their performance.

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  The male-presenting agent was also perceived as more human-like than the female-presenting agent.

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  In interviews, most participants said they would treat AI assistants equally regardless of gender presentation.

Who

Researchers at the University of Limerick studied 189 knowledge workers and three AI agents.

What

The study found that a male-presenting agent received about 10% more pay than a female-presenting agent despite equal performance.

When

The study was recently published; the article was published on 2026-10-10.

Where

The study took place in a virtual reality office.

Why

Researchers found that gender biases extended to AI agents, affecting perceptions and pay allocation.

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