UN Official Warns AI Could Open a Deep Divide in Opportunity Between Rich and Poor Nations

Artificial intelligence could widen the gap between wealthy and poor countries and deepen existing social and economic inequalities, a senior United Nations official has cautioned.

Tomas Lamanauskas, deputy secretary-general of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the UN agency responsible for information and communication technologies, spoke to Al Jazeera on Sunday on the sidelines of the UNCTAD World Investment Forum in Doha, Qatar. He said developing nations face major obstacles to sharing in the benefits of the AI revolution.

"There is a risk," Lamanauskas said, describing the AI divide as the key concern because it goes beyond the familiar digital divide. He noted that AI has enormous potential to power health, education, public services, industry, agriculture and trade. A wide divide, he argued, could therefore become an opportunity divide that sharpens socioeconomic inequality.

The disparities already show up in infrastructure, he said. Africa and Latin America together hold just 3.3 percent of global data centre capacity, and 2.2 billion people worldwide still have no internet access. Closing the digital infrastructure gap would take an estimated $2.8 trillion in investment by 2030, according to Lamanauskas.

Adoption is uneven too. Roughly 29 percent of working-age people in developed countries use generative AI, compared with 16 percent in developing countries. "This actually affects your ability to be productive and to be part of job-market opportunities," he said. He also pointed to language barriers, saying only seven percent of African languages are represented in AI translation tools.

A December 2025 report from the UN Development Programme raised similar alarms, warning that AI could usher in a new era of inequality between nations and undo decades of progress in narrowing economic gaps. It said countries with unreliable power, limited connectivity and weak technological skills risk missing out on AI's economic gains.

On employment, Lamanauskas cited estimates that AI could displace 90 million jobs while creating 170 million new ones. Even with a net positive result, he cautioned, many individuals will feel the disruption, since an estimated 40 percent of workplace skills could change by 2030.

The 2026 International AI Safety Report, released in February, said about one billion people use AI for tasks such as seeking medical guidance and writing. It estimated that around 60 percent of jobs in advanced economies and 40 percent in emerging economies could be exposed to AI-related effects, though it noted no concrete data exists.

Fazl Barez, a senior researcher at the University of Oxford who specialises in AI safety and governance, said "the fears are real," but stressed the need to separate AI automating tasks from replacing entire jobs. Routine cognitive work is particularly exposed, he said, though the scale remains uncertain. He warned that AI-driven automation threatens to erode government tax bases, lower living standards and disempower citizens.

Lamanauskas said stopping AI is not a realistic option. He noted that 104 countries now have AI strategies, up from four a decade ago, and that no single person, organisation or company can control the technology. He called for more investment in digital infrastructure, education and regulation so developing countries can help shape it. "The way forward is really to invest to make sure that the AI benefits everyone," he said.