World Bank Urges Developing Nations to Embrace AI

On Tuesday, the World Bank called on developing countries to embrace artificial intelligence (AI) technology to improve governance outcomes, warning that failure to do so could result in being left behind economically. Indermit Gill, Chief Economist of the World Bank Group, stated that AI could provide a lifeline for developing economies, advocating for the use of lower-cost AI tools tailored to local conditions.

The World Bank's annual World Development Report highlighted that advanced AI models, primarily developed in the United States and China, require significant resources, which may not be feasible for developing nations. The report noted that developing economies are experiencing their weakest growth in three decades and suggested that AI could enhance performance significantly by the end of the 2020s.

It urged countries to invest in electricity generation, computing power, and local data availability. Examples of AI applications include increasing diabetes screening in Bangladesh and reducing costs for Indian farmers through advanced weather forecasts.