"Over the last five years, artificial intelligence has shifted from a fringe interest to one of the most important drivers of global economic growth. So important has the technology become that the United Nations Security Council held its first open debate on artificial intelligence last month. While little of substance was achieved, a General Assembly resolution authorizing the creation of an independent scientific panel on AI may have a more enduring impact."
"AI runs on compute, cloud capacity, and data-resources that are concentrated in the hands of countries in the Global North. Africa, for example, hosts less than 1% of global data center capacity, leaving the continent reliant on expensive infrastructure abroad. Even an IT powerhouse like India hosts just 3% of global capacity, despite being home to nearly 20% of the world's population. Meanwhile, workers across the Global South are earning as little as $2 an hour creating, cleaning, and labeling data for use in Western models."
Artificial intelligence has become a major driver of global economic growth, prompting a UN debate and a General Assembly resolution to create an independent scientific panel on AI. The panel will examine how AI can promote sustainable economic development without entrenching inequality. AI depends on compute, cloud capacity, and data resources concentrated in the Global North: Africa hosts less than 1% of global data center capacity and India just 3% despite large populations. Workers in the Global South often earn as little as $2 an hour performing data work for Western models. Market forces drive these patterns, producing outcomes that mirror historical resource extraction and risk long-term economic and social harm.
Read at Fast Company
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]