Time to apply the brakes to runaway AI, says pioneer | UN News
Generative AI adoption growing twice as fast in industrialized nations...
Doreen Bogdan-Martin, Secretary-General of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the UN's specialized agency for digital technologies, sounded an urgent alarm about the growing AI divide. Speaking at a recent UN forum, she revealed that generative AI adoption in the industrialized 'Global North' is expanding nearly twice as fast as in the developing 'Global South'. This disparity, she warned, threatens to create what she called a 'second great divergence' – a widening chasm between countries that actively shape the development of artificial intelligence and those that are reduced to passive consumers of AI technologies built elsewhere.
The ITU chief emphasized that left unaddressed, this imbalance could entrench a new form of technological colonialism. Bogdan-Martin urged international cooperation to build inclusive AI governance frameworks and invest in digital infrastructure for the Global South. She called for concrete action including skills training, open-source AI tools, and fair access to compute resources, stressing that the current trajectory risks leaving billions without a voice in how AI transforms economies, education, and public services. The warning comes as global AI investment continues to concentrate in the US, China, and a handful of European nations.
- Generative AI adoption in Global North growing nearly 2x faster than Global South
- UN ITU chief warns of 'second great divergence' between AI shapers and consumers
- Call for inclusive governance, infrastructure investment, and skills training for developing nations
Why It Matters
If unaddressed, the AI gap will deepen global inequality, locking billions out of the AI-driven economy.