3 Minutes
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is raising the alarm: artificial intelligence, if unmanaged, could reverse decades of progress in narrowing the gap between rich and poor nations. A new UNDP report says the speed of AI adoption risks creating a new "great divergence" unless governments act quickly on policy, skills and infrastructure.
Why the UNDP is sounding the alarm
AI isn’t spreading slowly over years — it’s scaling globally in months. That acceleration is at the heart of the UNDP’s warning. Countries with existing computing power, digital skills and governance capacity will capture AI’s economic gains. Those without those foundations may fall further behind.
Economists at UNDP put it bluntly: the main fault line in the AI era is capability. Nations that invest in skills and compute will surge ahead; others risk severe stagnation. In short, the long-running trend of convergence — poorer nations catching up to richer ones — could be replaced by widening divergence.
Who stands to lose the most?
The report highlights two especially vulnerable groups: women and young people. Jobs dominated by women face almost twice the risk of automation and AI substitution compared with male-dominated roles. Young workers, particularly those aged 22–25, are increasingly finding fewer entry-level positions where AI cannot replace or reshape tasks — jeopardizing early-career trajectories.
Asia-Pacific: a region of extremes
The Asia-Pacific region captures the stark contrast the UNDP warns about. It houses 55% of the world’s population and shows both extremes: China accounts for roughly 70% of AI patents registered in the region, while an estimated 3.7 billion people across the same area do not use AI tools at all.
That gap matters. Advanced economies such as Singapore and South Korea are adding trillions in GDP through AI-driven productivity. Meanwhile, millions remain without basic internet access or digital literacy — effectively excluded from tomorrow’s growth engines.
Practical steps to avoid the "great divergence"
UNDP stresses that the inequality AI could create is not inevitable. With rapid, targeted policy work, AI can still be a force for inclusion: better healthcare diagnostics, improved literacy programs and smarter food systems are all within reach. Here are the policy priorities the report recommends:
- Invest in digital skills at scale: vocational training, reskilling programs, and targeted support for women and youth.
- Expand affordable broadband and access to devices so communities can effectively use AI tools.
- Boost public computing capacity and cloud access for universities, startups and governments in developing countries.
- Build governance frameworks for data sharing, privacy and fair AI use to avoid concentration of power.
- Promote international cooperation and technology transfers to level the global playing field.
There are already promising examples. Bangkok’s civic-engagement platform uses AI to channel citizen feedback into public services, and Beijing’s flood-management systems leverage AI for more responsive disaster mitigation. These cases show AI can deliver public-good outcomes when coupled with deliberate design and policy oversight.
Imagine faster diagnosis of diseases in rural clinics, or adaptive learning systems that reach students where classrooms cannot. Those possibilities are real — but only if governments, multilateral organizations and the private sector move quickly to widen access, protect vulnerable groups, and invest in capability building.
Time is short. The UNDP report is a clear call: act now to shape AI so it reduces inequality instead of amplifying it.
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