KAGIDER (Women Entrepreneurs Association of Turkey)‘s events series called “Digital Talks” which is broadcasted live online has been bringing business world together during the pandemic. The first broadcast of the new season was moderated by journalist Timur Sırt. The topic of the first broadcast was “The Uncontrollable Rise of Artificial Intelligence and Its Position in Our Business and Life”. The opening has realized by KAGIDER’s President Emine Erdem and KAGIDER’s Vice President Tijen Mergen. Speakers of the KAGIDER Digital Talks were experts in their fields. KAGIDER Board Member Professor Aytul Ercil is also the Co-founding partner and CEO of Vispera; Dr.Cansu Canca is Philosopher and Founder of Al Ethics Lab; Erol Degim is Co-founder and Manager of Armut.com. In the panel, the place and effect of Artificial Intelligence in our lives and for the future discussed.

Emine Erdem, President of KAGIDER has stated that there is a dramatic decrease on women’s employment and an increase in women entrepreneurship. Emine Erdem has added that according to the TUİK’s June 2020 Workforce Statistics, women employment on May-June and July is 8 million 312 thousand. In 2020, there were 9 million 107 thousand women who were in the work force according to the same source. Comparing to the previous year, there is a gap of 795 thousand women. She has indicated that it is unacceptable for the future of our country to compromise the achievements we got about recruiting women to the economy. In addition, Emine Erdem has mentioned the statistics of women employers in Turkey, she has said that the number of women employers increased to 13%. She has stated that it’s a good development and to increase and maintain this trend, there is a need to government support mechanisms.

Moderator Timur Sırt has stated that it is important to learn artificial intelligence with all of its aspects. KAGIDER’s Vice President Tijen Mergen has emphasized that women’s relation with the technology should be supported. She has mentioned that the percentage of women who work with artificial intelligence is 26% and due to the new era, businesses are going through new normal so that the percentage should be increased. Afterwards, Aytül Ercil stated that women are successful on artificial intelligence; however, their confidence is low. She has added that the process can look expensive but in the future most of things will be done without human because human force gets expensive and we should be prepared for the future. Dr.Cansu Canca has emphasized that the culture of doing a work with data has improved as accidents happen in the area. She has said that artificial intelligence should be thought in all designs of the system and she emphasized the importance of not misusing the data and ethics. Canca also has mentioned that ethical mistakes can lead to social inequality through several examples. She has indicated that there should be careful on data and it is significant to be sure whether you are biased or not on data preparation. She has offered that universities give classes about problem oriented ethics classes and companies can raise employees realizing and addressing ethical problems.