From Selling Buns to Coding: Women Rewrite AI's Story at the Bund

Could a woman who left school in third grade and sells steamed buns for a living build her own AI writing assistant? Could a rural homestay manager with no coding skills create an English app to share her hometown's stories with foreign guests?

On September 11, at the 2026 Inclusion · Bund Conference's "Digital Mulan" session, these questions got real answers. Women of different ages and backgrounds took the stage to present AI products they had built themselves.

Co-hosted by Ant Group and the Ant Charity Foundation, the event centered on the theme "We WOMEN · AI," split into two parts: "AI for Her" and "AI by Her." The goal: explore how women can become equal participants, co-creators, and co-builders in AI's development.

Liu Liqun, president of China Women's University, noted in her speech that digital technology is breaking down barriers of time and space, opening new economic doors for women. But she also flagged persistent challenges: the gender digital divide, hidden algorithmic biases, and a shortage of female digital talent. "Improving women's digital literacy and bridging the gender digital gap is both a practical issue and a mission of our times," she said.

AI at Work and in Health: What Changes?

A rural woman finishes her farm work, changes into a suit, and heads to a tech company where she works as an AI trainer. After work, she drives her own car to pick up her child. That scene stuck with host Zhang Yue during a visit to Shaanxi's "Digital Mulan" project base.

AI is creating new jobs for women—but also pressure. Yang Jianghua, director of the Digital Society Research Center at Xi'an Jiaotong University, shared data showing about a quarter of global jobs could be affected by AI. In roles where AI handles most tasks, women make up 4.7% versus men's 2.4%. "Technology alone won't bring occupational gender equality," he said. "It takes individual effort, social innovation, and systemic governance."

At the employment roundtable, guests from manufacturing, digital services, and finance shared practical examples. Wang Yan, VP of HR at Yida China, pointed out that frontline female workers know production processes inside out—with training, they can help develop and apply AI tools. Xu Ning from Ant Science noted that 81% of workers on its cloud customer service platform are women, and AI is lowering training barriers, "bringing jobs to the doorstep" for mothers who want to return home. Zhan Qun of Wangshang Bank said the bank serves 17 million female entrepreneurs, expanding support from financing to helping them use AI to run their businesses.

When talk turned to health, the questions got sharper. Can women in remote areas get timely screenings? Can they discuss sensitive health issues with AI first?

Nadia Rasheed, UNFPA representative in China, said AI has huge potential to improve women's health—but "only if it reaches women facing the greatest obstacles." She called for women to be involved in designing and setting rules for these products, especially ensuring rural women and women with disabilities aren't left out.

Sun Xiaorong, founder of Wuhan Landings Intelligent Medicine, shared that her team once issued 50,000 reports in a single day for a cervical cancer screening project, with AI flagging suspicious cells and doctors reviewing online. Zhang Ling from DAMO Academy described multi-cancer screening using plain CT plus AI—breast cancer screening achieved 85% average sensitivity and over 99% specificity without contrast agents. Bai Yujing from the Gates Foundation introduced a palm-sized portable ultrasound device developed in China that can identify pregnancy risks three weeks earlier. Tao Sixiong, chief physician at Zhejiang University's Second Hospital, urged health AI to reach counties and rural areas, addressing overlooked needs like breastfeeding support.

No Code? No Problem.

From receiving services to creating them, women who used AI vibe coding at the conference mostly started with a specific life problem.

Two 13-year-old girls brought projects based on needs around them. Jia Yishan from Beijing Chaoyang Zhongde School noticed teammates' grandparents struggled to take medicine on time, so she helped design the "Yao Xiaobao" smart medicine box. Xie Anqi from Hangzhou Yungu School and a classmate built the "Husky Study Butler" in a day and a half to help distracted students focus.

As AI natives, they have their own take. Jia Yishan said, "We can ask AI when we don't understand, and correct it when it's wrong. That's learning too." Xie Anqi added a caution: "If you really believe you should master something, you must be able to understand it yourself."

Members of the "Mulan Makers' Forest" brought projects rooted in daily life. Mu Yumei, over 50, sells steamed buns in Shenzhen and writes poetry. She dropped out in third grade, collected scrap, and worked odd jobs for years. After joining a reading club in 2024, she started writing poems about her hometown's wheat fields and the chicks she raises with her granddaughter. At the conference, she collaborated with tech volunteers to create an AI writing assistant. "Although I only attended school for three years and still sell steamed buns, how to make buns and how to write poems—my life is decided by me!" she said.

Wang Aidi, a homestay manager in Dongxiang, Gansu, once wanted to introduce local food and folk songs to international guests but couldn't speak English. That frustration led her to co-create "Mulan Voice," an English tool for homestay scenarios. "I don't know code, but I understand the needs," she said. She hopes to bring it back to the mountains and learn with more rural women.

Hu Chunfang, a hearing-impaired weaver in Hangzhou, teaches over 300 students. She co-created "Bridge Not Broken," which generates design drawings from ideas and combines them with her weaving experience to produce deconstruction tutorials. Mao Mao's mother from Xinyang, Henan, once struggled to find a music teacher for blind children, so she learned musical notation herself. She co-created "AI for Love" to help blind children practice singing at home. Dou Yongyan, a cloud customer service agent from Gansu, built an emotional companion assistant after her grandmother passed away—it records memories, saves photos, and writes family letters. "The real significance is that I finally said the words I never had the chance to say," she said.

Lai Yunqi, founder of FLOW AI, believes AI lowers the barrier for small teams and gives women more flexibility to start businesses. She encourages women to start with a simple tool based on their own needs, let others use it, and improve it gradually.

Xiao Wangjing, VP of Ant Group's Sustainable Development Department, noted this is the ninth year of Ant's Digital Mulan Women Support Program. "Women cannot just be users and consumers of AI," she said. "They should become co-creators and shapers." She added, "The more AI develops, the more people need to be present—and 'We WOMEN' need to be even more present."

During the conference, the China Women's Development Foundation, China Health Education Center, and Ant Charity Foundation launched the "Mulan AI Health Plan" to bring AI closer to grassroots women's health needs in places like Dezhou, Qingjian, and Jishi Mountain. Partners also released the "We WOMEN · AI" initiative, aiming to support more women as shared participants and co-builders in the AI era.

Key Points

Women are moving from AI users to creators, building tools that solve real-life problems.
AI opens job opportunities but also risks widening gender gaps—training and inclusive design are critical.
Health AI shows promise in early screening and rural care, but must reach the most vulnerable.
Initiatives like "Mulan AI Health Plan" and "We WOMEN · AI" aim to bridge the digital gender divide.

From Selling Buns to Coding: Women Rewrite AI's Story at the Bund