Artificial Intelligence and Social and Gender Justice Activism in MENA: Spaces of co-optation, engagement and resistance

Overview

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is being adopted and deployed across the MENA region in in ways that threaten to deepen existing inequalities and restrict rights. From surveillance technologies such as facial recognition, predictive policing, and smart cities, to algorithmic biases on social media and gig platforms, AI is reshaping civic space, labour markets, and gender dynamics. In conflict and humanitarian settings, AI has already intensified harm, most notably in Israel’s genocide in Gaza. The paper highlights risks to gender and social justice, power imbalances, and emerging feminist and regional responses.