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. So a great divide could really mean an opportunity divide, and really could deepen the socioeconomic divide,” he said.
Lamanauskas said the disparities are already evident in digital infrastructure, citing the examples of Africa and Latin America, which together account for just 3.3 percent of global data centre capacity. In a December 2025 report, the UN Development Programme (UNDP) cautioned that AI could trigger a new era of inequality between nations, reversing decades of progress in narrowing economic disparities between nations. The UNDP warned that countries with unreliable power, limited connectivity, and a lack of technological skills risk missing out on the economic gains of AI.
Bridging the digital infrastructure gap would require an estimated $2.8 trillion in investment by 2030, UN official Lamanauskas said. The divide between nations is also evident in the adoption of AI, he added. While approximately 29 percent of working-age people in developed countries use generative AI, that figure drops to 16 percent in developing nations.
Lamanauskas acknowledged growing concerns about AI-driven job losses, citing estimates that the technology could displace 90 million jobs, but also create 170 million new ones. However, he warned that even if there is a “net positive impact”, many people will personally experience disruption, as an estimated 40 percent of workplace skills could change by 2030. He also pointed to language inequalities, revealing that only seven percent of African languages are represented in AI translation tools, limiting access for millions of potential users.
According to the 2026 International AI Safety Report released in February, about one billion people use AI for a variety of tasks, including seeking guidance on medical health and writing. While no concrete data exists, the report estimated that about 60 percent of jobs in advanced economies and 40 percent in emerging economies could be exposed to AI-related impacts. However, he cautioned that it was important to distinguish between AI “automating tasks and replacing entire jobs”.
Those involving routine cognitive work are particularly exposed, but the scale remains uncertain,” Barez told Al Jazeera. Nevertheless, he called for greater investment in digital infrastructure, education and regulation to ensure developing countries can participate in helping shape the technology.
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