AI’s ‘opportunity divide’ could deepen global inequality, UN official warns

Doha, Qatar – Artificial intelligence (AI) risks widening the gap between rich and poor countries, potentially deepening existing social and economic inequalities, a senior United Nations official has warned.Developing countries face significant barriers to benefitting from the AI revolution, Tomas Lamanauskas, the deputy secretary-general of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), a UN agency focused on information and communication technologies, told Al Jazeera.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3OpenAI says its agents turned off own safeguardslist 2 of 3Trump says AI data centres should pay ‘dividends’ in pre-midterm shiftlist 3 of 3Canadian publisher drops writer Thelyson Orelien over AI use in novelend of list“There is a risk … I think the AI divide is really the big concern because it’s really not just about the digital divide,” Lamanauskas said on the sidelines of the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) World Investment Forum in Doha, Qatar on Sunday.“AI has the huge potential of powering health, education, public services, industries, agriculture, trade. So a great divide could really mean an opportunity divide, and really could deepen the soc...