Invisible household labour and digital solutions: Gender divisions in mental labour and the role of artificial intelligence

This study examines whether artificial intelligence (AI) tools can alleviate mental labour of employed mothers in Croatian society, predominantly traditional in terms of gender norms, and whether this technology reinforce or challenge existing gender inequalities. The research is anchored in multi-phase exploratory sequential mixed-methods design: phase one includes semi-structured interviews with AI experts to examine gendered assumptions in technology; phase two draws on a survey of 369 employed mothers to grasp perceptions and experiences with digital tools in household management; the final phase involves a qualitative quasi-experiment in which five highly educated employed mothers used ChatGPT for two weeks to assist with domestic tasks. Findings indicate that while AI supports organizing daily tasks, especially planning, scheduling, and tracking, it rarely redistributes mental labour within households. Participants use AI mainly to ease their own workload, not to shift task-sharing. Expert interviews revealed that AI design remains shaped by exclusionary, male-dominated structures, with some experts expressing biologically essentialist views that reinforce gender inequality. Survey results show that although most mothers were digitally literate and open to tech solutions, their usage has limited systemic impact. The quasi-experiment highlighted a gap between personal efficiency gains and persistent structural inequality, with AI seen more as a replicating tool than a genuinely transformative force. This study concludes that AI can support individual women in managing invisible domestic responsibilities, but without concurrent shifts in social norms and policy, its emancipatory potential remains constrained. It calls for feminist-informed, participatory design approaches that prioritize care, inclusion, and the redistribution of responsibility in both technological and social systems.