Savior or new burden? A phenomenological study on the transformation of women’s domestic labor in the age of artificial intelligence

Authors : Gıyasettin Yıldız

Pages : 1-22

Doi:10.30783/nevsosbilen.1742030

View : 166 | Download : 281

Publication Date : 2025-12-07

Article Type : Research Paper

Abstract :This article uses a phenomenological approach to examine the multi-layered effects of artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled home technologies on the everyday life experiences of women in Şanlıurfa, a city in Turkey known for its traditional and patriarchal structure. Drawing on feminist technology studies, domestication of technology and invisible labor theories, this study is based on in-depth interviews with 25 women. The findings reveal the complex and contradictory dynamics that AI creates in the domestic sphere: On the one hand, technology alleviates women’s physical labor burden and opens up new time spaces for them, while on the other hand, it brings new mental burdens such as “managerial labor” and “digital caregiving”. It has also been observed that technology is used as an “excuse” for men to withdraw from housework responsibilities, but it also opens the door to a “selective” male participation based on technological curiosity. Women’s “domestication” of these devices by personifying them and forming emotional bonds with them shows that technology is not only a functional tool but also a social actor. By analyzing a global technological phenomenon in a local context through an intersectionality lens, the study reveals that technology both reproduces and negotiates gender roles and makes an original contribution to the literature.
Keywords : Yapay Zekâ, Ev İçi Emek, Toplumsal Cinsiyet, Teknolojinin Evcilleştirilmesi, Şanlıurfa

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