AI offers lifeline to developing economies by accelerating growth: World Bank

New Delhi, Aug 5 (IANS) Artificial intelligence gave a lifeline to developing countries, allowing them to achieve in a decade ‘what might otherwise take a century’, but only if their governments rapidly close gaps in power, connectivity, skills and institutional quality, a report has said.

The report from the World Bank said jobs in high‑income countries are more than three times as likely to be at risk of automation by generative AI than those in low‑ and middle‑income countries.

In low- and middle-income countries, 4.5 per cent of existing jobs are at risk of automation, compared with 14.2 per cent in high-income countries.

Meanwhile, 16.2 per cent of jobs in developing economies could see productivity meaningfully boosted by AI — close to the 18.7 per cent expected in high-income countries. “The greatest promise for developing countries lies not in replacing workers, but in amplifying what they can do,” the report said.

“AI has thrown developing economies a lifeline, and they should seize it. They do not need large models or big data centers to reap its benefits,” said Indermit Gill, Senior Vice President and Chief Economist of the World Bank Group.

“By adapting small, low-cost AI tools to local conditions, they can bring better medical care, education, judicial services and agricultural extension within reach of millions. But they must hurry: AI is spreading faster and is more context-specific than earlier general-purpose technologies like electricity and the internet. World Development Report 2026 shows how developing countries are responding—and succeeding,” he added.

The report highlighted that AI is already helping people, businesses, and governments solve problems, analyse information, improve forecasts, and deliver services at a larger scale.

These capabilities are especially valuable in countries where trained professionals, reliable records, and public capacity are often limited. AI tools can make it easier for doctors to diagnose patients, farmers to improve crop decisions, and businesses to become more productive.

Governments could use AI to improve tax collection, social programs, disaster response, health care, and education.

Developing economies are currently in the midst of their weakest average growth performance in three decades, World Bank said.

AI could significantly boost that performance before the end of the 2020s. Many developing economies still lack the power, internet access, data, skills, and institutions needed to use AI effectively, the report noted.

Without deliberate action, AI could widen gaps between countries, increase inequality within them, concentrate market power, weaken trust in public institutions, and create new risks for safety, rights, and social cohesion.

—IANS

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