Where’s My Ironing Robot?

Why the Future of Domestic Tech Depends on Women in STEM 

By Dr Samantha Pillay

When AI meets laundry: The ironing robot we should have by now.

If a robot can drive a car, write a screenplay, and beat us at chess, why hasn’t someone invented a robot to do the ironing?

It’s a question I ask not just out of personal frustration, but because it reveals something far more serious: the hidden economy of unpaid domestic labour and how it disproportionately affects women.

Ironing is more than a chore. It’s a symbol of a systemic imbalance that costs us trillions.

The Trillion-Dollar Time Deficit

Time is the most valuable resource we have. Every hour spent on domestic duties is an hour not spent on education, career advancement, entrepreneurship, or even necessary rest.

And these hours add up. This "time poverty" crisis is not a feeling; it's a measurable economic disaster:

• The Disparity: The data is stark. In Australia, women do about 7 more hours of unpaid housework every week than men. (Melbourne Institute, 2024).

• The Trillion-Dollar Problem: This is not a minor factor. In the United States alone, unpaid care work is valued at over $1 trillion annually. We are effectively running a shadow economy on the backs of women.

• The Lifetime Impact: This imbalance directly fuels the gender pay gap. The burden of this "second shift" forces many women into part-time work, which has severe, cumulative consequences, resulting in lower lifetime earnings, diminished retirement savings, and chronic financial insecurity.

If we truly want to close the gender equity gap, we need more than slogans. We need structural, technological solutions.

The ‘Second Shift’ is a Mental Health Issue

The cost isn't just economic. It’s psychological.

The problem isn't just the physical act of ironing; it’s the cognitive load; the invisible, 24/7 mental labour of planning, managing, and executing household maintenance.

This "double burden" is linked to significant distress and increased symptoms of depression in women. In fact, the unequal division of household chores is recognised as one of the top predictors of marital dissatisfaction and chronic conflict.

An automated solution, therefore, isn't a luxury. By removing a core source of conflict and stress, it functions as a tool for preventative public health, improving well-being and stabilising family units.

The "Innovation Deficit", Why We Still Don’t Have an Ironing Robot

This brings us back to the original question. If the market is worth trillions and the social benefits are immense, where is the innovation?

The answer, most likely, is that the robot will be invented by a woman.

Just like Josephine Cochran, who revolutionised kitchens in the 1800s with the invention of the dishwasher, many of the most transformative innovations come from those who understand the burden firsthand.

The reason this problem persists is due to a systemic "Innovation Deficit". When women make up only 14% of global tech leaders, the R&D field is systemically biased. The people with the power to greenlight and fund new technology do not personally feel the chore disparity, so they systematically underestimate the problem’s severity and the innovation's true economic potential.

The Surgeon's Perspective on a 'Grand AI Challenge'

There is a second reason this is unsolved: it’s incredibly difficult.

This is not a simple gadget. A self-driving car deals with rigid objects (other cars, roads) that follow predictable rules. Ironing requires a robot to handle soft, flexible, and completely unpredictable materials.

As a surgeon, my entire career has been focused on navigating complex, non-rigid materials under high-stakes conditions. I can tell you that teaching a machine the "feel" and dexterity needed to manage a crumpled shirt is a profound challenge.

The failure of early, simplistic folding robots confirms this. The solution requires a leap in artificial intelligence, one that can perceive, plan, and manipulate complex, deformable objects. Successfully building an ironing robot should be seen as a grand AI benchmark, a signal that we have achieved a new level of dexterity in automation.

The Automation Dividend

The potential prize for solving this is what economists call an "automation dividend".

Experts predict that 39% of time spent on domestic work could be automated within the next decade.

Imagine a robot that folds and irons laundry while you sleep, drawing on off-peak power. This isn't just saving time; it's reallocating trillions of dollars worth of human capital. It’s a game-changer for working mothers. A leveller of playing fields.

We need to break down gender stereotypes before they form, ensuring our daughters and sons believe they belong in labs, startups, and engineering workshops. We need five-year-olds dreaming not just of flying to the moon, but of designing the robot that folds the laundry while they sleep.

A robot that irons your clothes might seem like a small thing. But its implications are anything but small.

It’s about time, equity, and innovation. It’s about freedom.

And that’s why I want a robot to do my ironing. So I can spend my time making films that change the world.

Author’s Note: A Real-Time Lesson in Unconscious Bias When I generated the video for this article using Google's Veo3, I used a gender-neutral prompt: "A photorealistic medium full shot of an entire humanoid robot... standing at an ironing board."

I confess, I was expecting a female-coded robot. Perhaps due to the statistics on domestic labour I just cited, or perhaps due to my own previous frustrations with AI bias, like the time I struggled to get AI to generate an image of a man cleaning a toilet (you can read about that journey here).

To my delight, the AI gave me a "male." It’s a small but significant signal: the algorithms are evolving, and perhaps, our tools are beginning to break the stereotypes that we humans are still struggling to dismantle.