Cherie Blair is urging women entrepreneurs to move beyond surface-level use of artificial intelligence and to integrate the technology more deeply into their businesses, while maintaining a healthy scepticism about its risks. She said women are “not foolish” to distrust artificial intelligence given harms such as sexualised images generated by services like Grok, but stressed that distrust should not prevent women from capturing broader economic benefits. The barrister and human rights lawyer described a global landscape where many businesswomen are experimenting with artificial intelligence without using it to its full potential.
According to research conducted by the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women, artificial intelligence use among women entrepreneurs in low and middle-income countries has more than doubled in a year, rising from 38% in 2024 to 82% in 2025. Some 69% of women reported saving time as a key benefit of artificial intelligence use and around two thirds of frequent users said it was for marketing activities. In contrast, a smaller proportion reported using artificial intelligence for business operations, at a third, and 35% apply the technology to bookkeeping and finance. The foundation surveyed 3,000 female business owners in low and middle-income countries, of which there are more than 100 identified by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
Blair said the “real story isn’t just about adoption, it’s about depth”, noting that “many women are using artificial intelligence for quick wins on marketing and communication” but may lack the time, confidence and support to move from experimenting to full integration. She warned that generative artificial intelligence being used to create non-consensual sexualised images understandably deters many women, criticising an industry “mainly men” in an internet environment where “a lot of it is dominated by pornography”. The survey also found that almost all the women surveyed had care-giving responsibilities, including childcare, elderly care, emotional support and household management, leading Blair to observe that many who use artificial intelligence to save time are “probably just using the time saved to do a bit more housework or maybe just catch up on some sleep”. She cautioned that those already fortunate with time and resources are likely to advance more quickly than those without such advantages.
