Learn how generative AI is revolutionizing and the developing economies

After only a few minutes of interacting with generative artificial intelligence (AI) technologies like ChatGPT, a user may see their power and the breadth of potential they provide.

These instruments carry the possibility of boosting living standards and reducing the economic route to reaching sustainable development goals in poor nations via two key channels:

Empowered private sector initiatives: Generative AI technologies may significantly cut entrepreneurs' entry barriers and operational expenses, allowing them to develop creative and scalable business models that can outperform traditional techniques. Access to credit and financial services for a much larger portion of the population, improved education outcomes through personalized learning, optimized medical care through early disease detection and virtual care, and improved crop yields through land use optimization are just a few concrete applications with immediate potential.

Improved delivery of public goods and services: Technology can help increase transparency in government, improve corruption control, overcome infrastructure limitations, deploy environmental conservation tools, implement early warning systems to manage natural disasters, and engage citizens.

These possibilities, however, will not appear on their own. Utilizing the capabilities of generative AI necessitates active public-private collaboration. Countries will be unable to invest in both human and physical capital if the public sector is not involved.

Emerging markets frequently lack the bandwidth required for generative AI.

For example, most of the population in many underdeveloped nations currently lacks widespread access to high-speed internet, which is required for advanced generative AI applications.

According to the World Bank, broadband subscriptions per 100 people in countries such as India, Indonesia, the Philippines, South Africa, and Peru are just a small fraction of those in wealthy nations. When data on the availability of 5G network topologies or data centres is examined, a similar result might be made.

However, in recent interactions with policymakers from several developing economies, I have noticed a lack of urgency and attention on these issues.

Questions about what concrete initiatives they plan to implement to harness the power of generative AI for the benefit of their country are typically met with responses that are either generic – with plans that are difficult to distinguish from those used to adopt other technological breakthroughs, for example – or suggest a need for a fuller understanding and appreciation of the technology's present and future capabilities.

Similarly, governments will be unable to deliver the advantages of generative AI to the market – i.e., the spectrum of end-users including individuals, corporations, and government agencies and institutions – promptly without a vibrant private sector ecosystem.

There is still a lot of work to be done in this area. According to Oxford Insights' newest Government AI Readiness Index, the technology industry in many emerging nations currently ranks badly in terms of maturity and innovative potential.

AI Readiness Should Be a Primary Goal in Poorer Countries.

All of them give several prospects for growth. But first, enhancing AI readiness must rise to the top of developing market policy goals.

A lack of quick public-private cooperation would not only indicate a failure to capitalize on the technology's promise but would also raise vulnerability to several connected hazards, including:

Growing technological divide: A greater disparity between those who understand and have access to advanced generative AI tools and those who do not is likely to result in increased income and wealth inequality not only across countries but also within countries, potentially leading to more severe social tensions and conflict.

Job market disruptions: There is considerable worry that generative AI would devalue certain abilities, even as new ones emerge as extremely valued. Customer service, for example, is under threat, even though many emerging economies have profited from offshore outsourcing by wealthy countries.

Public distrust and growing political insecurity: According to the current Edelman Trust Barometer research, concerns about inaccurate information and fake news are at an all-time high in many emerging economies. Generative AI may compound these concerns by blurring the distinction between actual and computer-generated information. No healthy society can run without trust, and democratic systems appear to be the most vulnerable to disruption.

Many developed economies have already recognized the possibilities and hazards of generative AI, with governments actively investigating methods to make the technology work for both industry and society. The stakes could hardly be any greater. The moment has come for developing markets to prepare for the AI revolution.