AI boom threatens to widen global wealth gap by US$360 Billion: study

A US$360 billion (HK$2,824 billion) gulf is discovered between the potential economic benefits of AI between Commonwealth nations best prepared to embrace the technology and those struggling to keep pace, a study by the Ayre Index indicated.

Drawing on 1,128 research sources, the Ayre Index examines the conditions affecting approximately 732 million young people across all 56 Commonwealth’s countries. Singapore leads the Index with 77.6 points out of 100, followed by Malta (75.0), Australia (71.0), the United Kingdom (70.8) and Canada (70.2). Lesotho (27.8) and Malawi (26.3) sit at the bottom. 

The divide is almost equivalent to the entire annual economic output of Egypt or Chile, and more than twice the $174.3 billion provided in international development aid by major donor countries last year. 

With a potential US$389.2 billion economic opportunity found across the 15 countries meeting its readiness benchmark, compared to US$29.2 billion across the other 41, the findings raise fears that the technological revolution, already transforming businesses and workplaces around the world, could deepen the inequalities separating wealthy countries from developing economies.

The potential impact AI could have on the level of GDP after ten years amounts to US$126.1 billion for the United Kingdom, US$79.1 billion for India, US$73.1 billion for Canada and US$56.7 billion for Australia. Among those below the benchmark, Bangladesh has an opportunity of US$8.2 billion, Pakistan US$8.1 billion, Kenya about US$2 billion and Ghana US$1.7 billion, reflecting a stark illustration of the scale of potential AI-related economic gains and underlines the importance of ensuring that countries with weaker foundations are better equipped to benefit from the AI revolution according to the Ayre Think Tank. 

𝗗𝗼𝘄𝗻𝗹𝗼𝗮𝗱 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗔𝗽𝗽 ↓