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View all search resultsWithout strong policies, AI may widen inequalities in Asia-Pacific, UNDP warns
Indonesia is among the countries with transitional capacity, which have internet access for most people, but coverage and quality remain uneven with regulation, funding and skills still catching up. These nations are encouraged to draft national strategies that should outline greater investment in labor skills and strong AI policies.
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Words reading “Artificial intelligence AI“, miniature of robot and toy hand are pictured in this illustration created on Dec. 14, 2023. (Reuters/Dado Ruvic)
D
espite the benefits of boosting productivity and improving health and education, the rapid development of artificial intelligence may widen inequality between Asian-Pacific countries, a report issued by a United Nations body has warned.
To prevent wider inequality due to uneven capabilities in capturing the technology’s benefits and managing its risks, countries like Indonesia are urged to issue policies and regulations to protect their people from the risk of unemployment and other security threats that could arise from AI implementation in various sectors.
The report, titled The Next Great Divergence: Why AI May Widen Inequality Between Countries, was issued on Tuesday by the UN Development Programme (UNDP).
It highlighted that although AI has the potential to unlock economic opportunities, unmanaged adoption of it could also threaten millions of jobs, particularly those held by women and young people, due to higher exposure to automation that would substitute their roles.
The coming challenges will be most evident in Asia-Pacific, where half of global AI users reside in mostly developing countries. Their capability, according to the UNDP, remains widely varied.
“AI is racing ahead and many countries are still at the starting line,” said Kanni Wignaraja, UN assistant secretary-general and UNDP regional director for Asia and the Pacific, in a statement issued on Tuesday for the report’s launch.
Read also: Democracy ‘under threat’ as generative AI distorts information
