Don’t Let AI Become the Newest Digital Divide

In his annual letter, Bill Gates predicted that the United States is “eighteen to twenty four months away from significant levels of AI use by the general population” and that African countries are just a year or so behind that. The pace of AI development is breathtaking, with generative AI tools like ChatGPT forecast to have an adoption curve steeper than the smartphone. However, while many of us explore this new frontier of tech, much of the world is yet to even come online. Like every digital breakthrough before it—the invention of the web, the roll-out of broadband, the mobile revolution—the opportunities enabled by AI leaves those without internet access further behind just by staying where they are. Without urgent action billions of people around the world will be excluded from the benefits of this technological revolution while suffering its disruptions.

• The future of work: Plenty of ink has been spilled about how AI is transforming industry, revolutionizing product categories, and creating entirely new career paths. But if you’ve never been online, these new careers are out of reach, even before you take into account that 80 percent of jobs in the United States are posted online only. And while you won’t see the upside, you’ll certainly feel the pain, as automation and AI systems replace human roles and eliminate traditional jobs.
• Improving health for all: Gates’ letter describes how AI could literally save lives by improving healthcare in areas like treatment of high-risk pregnancies, assessing HIV risk, managing medical health records, and so much more. Leading philanthropists like Gates must urgently help ensure these opportunities are available to all—not just those who can afford them.
• Closing the homework gap: I’ve been blown away by the potential of AI tutors personalized to a student’s location and learning level. But these potentially game-changing educational tools are out of reach for the 1.3 billion children who don’t have home internet and are already struggling with the “homework gap.”

As Gates writes, “If we make smart investments now, AI can make the world a more equitable place. It can reduce or even eliminate the lag time between when the rich world gets an innovation and when the poor world does.” But if we do not make these investments, AI will not just be the newest digital divide: it will scale it exponentially.

[Jochai Ben-Avie is the Co-Founder and CEO of Connect Humanity.]