Artificial intelligence threatens to widen the economic chasm between developed and developing nations, creating an opportunity divide that could reverse decades of progress in reducing global inequality, a senior United Nations official has warned. Speaking on the sidelines of the UN Conference on Trade and Development World Investment Forum in Doha, Qatar, Tomas Lamanauskas said the rapid advancement of artificial intelligence risks compounding existing digital disparities into a broader socio-economic crisis.
Lamanauskas, the deputy secretary-general of the International Telecommunication Union, cautioned that while artificial intelligence holds immense potential to transform health, education, public services, agriculture, and trade, unequal access threatens to leave the developing world behind. Disparities are already starkly visible in foundational digital infrastructure, according to ITU figures showing that Africa and Latin America combined account for just 3.3 percent of global data centre capacity. Furthermore, an estimated 2.2 billion people worldwide remain entirely without internet access.
These concerns echo a December 2025 report by the UN Development Programme, which cautioned that nations plagued by unreliable power supplies, limited connectivity, and deficient technological skills risk missing out entirely on the economic dividends of artificial intelligence. Closing the foundational digital infrastructure gap will require an estimated $2.8 trillion in investment by the year 2030, Lamanauskas noted.
Adoption rates further illustrate the widening gap. Approximately 29 percent of working-age individuals in developed economies utilize generative artificial intelligence tools, whereas that figure drops to just 16 percent across developing nations. This disparity directly impacts workforce productivity and integration into modern job-market opportunities.
Beyond infrastructure and adoption, the technology poses complex disruptions to global labor markets. While citing estimates that artificial intelligence could displace 90 million jobs while creating 170 million new ones, Lamanauskas warned that even a net-positive economic outcome will involve severe individual disruption. An estimated 40 percent of workplace skills are projected to change by 2030. Language representation remains another critical barrier, with only seven percent of African languages currently supported in artificial intelligence translation tools, restricting utility for millions of potential users.
Recent findings from the February 2026 International AI Safety Report indicate that approximately one billion people now use artificial intelligence for tasks ranging from drafting text to seeking medical guidance. The report estimated that roughly 60 percent of jobs in advanced economies and 40 percent in emerging economies face exposure to artificial intelligence impacts.
Fazl Barez, a senior researcher specializing in artificial intelligence safety and governance at the University of Oxford, acknowledged that the public anxieties surrounding the technology are entirely real. Barez emphasized the necessity of distinguishing between automating specific tasks and replacing entire occupations, noting that routine cognitive work faces the highest exposure, though the ultimate scale of job losses remains uncertain. Left unchecked, artificial intelligence-driven automation threatens to erode government tax bases, diminish living standards, and disempower citizens.
Despite these mounting pressures, Lamanauskas asserted that halting the rapid technological expansion is neither feasible nor desirable, emphasizing that artificial intelligence is permanent and transformative. Indicating the growing global focus on governance, 104 countries have established national artificial intelligence strategies, a stark increase from just four countries a decade ago. Because the technology cannot be controlled by a single entity, corporation, or government, Lamanauskas called for robust investments in digital infrastructure, targeted education, and adaptive regulations to ensure developing economies actively participate in shaping its trajectory.
