Washington, Aug 4 (dpa/GNA) – Workers in wealthier countries face a significantly greater risk of losing their jobs, due to artificial intelligence (AI) than those in poorer countries, according to a World Bank report released on Tuesday.
The risk of their work being automated is more than three times higher than in low and middle-income countries, the report found.
Some 14.2% of jobs in wealthier countries are at risk from AI, compared with just 4.5% in low and middle-income countries. At the same time, the Washington-based World Bank stressed that AI could boost productivity in 16.2% of jobs in developing countries, a figure close to the 18.7% forecast for high-income countries.
Lower-income countries don’t need large models or big data centres to benefit from AI, World Bank chief economist Indermit Gill said. Even small, low-cost AI tools could give millions of people access to better health care, education and agriculture, he said.
The report’s authors stressed, however, that adequate conditions would need to be created for this to happen. Governments in lower-income countries would need to ensure internet access and a secure energy supply, they said.
Without targeted measures, AI could widen the gap between countries, exacerbate inequality within countries and concentrate market power, the report warned.
Among high-income countries, the World Bank counts many European nations, the US, the United Arab Emirates, Japan and South Korea.
Middle-income countries include Brazil, China, Mexico, Egypt, India, Thailand and Vietnam. Low-income countries include Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Syria and Uganda.
GNA