AI: The scientific revolution that risks being undermined by the digital divide
TL;DR
This article argues that AI's developmental value, when applied to the most critical international development challenges humanity faces, still depends on the geopolitical, institutional, environmental, labor, and ethical conditions that determine how AI development and deployment benefits and risks are distributed.
Abstract
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is reshaping scientific discovery, industrial organization, labor, and governance, with major implications for international development. AI can accelerate innovation in areas key to international development, yet the same systems can also reproduce bias, unsafe automation, environmental burdens, dependency, and unequal exposure to harms. Because the compute, data, infrastructure, and expertise needed to develop and govern advanced AI remain concentrated, the AI digital divide concerns not only who gains access, but who bears costs, who gives consent, and who shapes priorities short and long-term. This article argues that AI's developmental value, when applied to the most critical international development challenges humanity faces, still depends on the geopolitical, institutional, environmental, labor, and ethical conditions that determine how AI development and deployment benefits and risks are distributed.