AI’s ‘opportunity divide’ could deepen global inequality, UN official warns

The deputy secretary-general of the UN’s ICT agency tells Al Jazeera that unequal access to AI means poorer nations may be left behind.

Tomas Lamanauskas, deputy secretary-general of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), warns that AI could deepen socioeconomic divides [File: Aziz Karimov/Getty Images]

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.

list 1 of 3 OpenAI says its agents turned off own safeguards

list 2 of 3 Trump says AI data centres should pay ‘dividends’ in pre-midterm shift

list 3 of 3 Canadian publisher drops writer Thelyson Orelien over AI use in novel

“There is a risk … I think the AI divide is really the big concern because it’s really not just about the digital divide,” Lamanauskas said on the sidelines of the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) World Investment Forum in Doha, Qatar on Sunday.

“AI has the huge potential of powering health, education, public services, industries, agriculture, trade. So a great divide could really mean an opportunity divide, and really could deepen the socioeconomic divide,” he said.

“So that’s really the worrying part.”

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.

“So you clearly see still a rather big infrastructure divide,” he said, adding that 2.2 billion people worldwide remain without internet access.

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.

“This actually affects your ability to be productive and to be part of job-market opportunities,” Lamanauskas said.

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.

“The fears are real,” said Fazl Barez, a senior researcher at the University of Oxford specialising in AI safety and governance.

However, he cautioned that it was important to distinguish between AI “automating tasks and replacing entire jobs”.

“What are the types of jobs that could be lost? Those involving routine cognitive work are particularly exposed, but the scale remains uncertain,” Barez told Al Jazeera.

“AI-driven automation threatens to erode government tax bases, lower living standards, and disempower citizens.”

AI needs to benefit ‘everyone’

Despite concerns around the AI revolution, Lamanauskas said he did not believe there was a “possibility just to stop AI” or halt its rapid advancement.

“AI is here to stay, and AI is here to transform our lives,” he said, noting that 104 countries now have AI strategies, compared with just four a decade ago.

“AI is not a technology that can be controlled by one person or organisation or one company,” the UN official added.

Nevertheless, he called for greater investment in digital infrastructure, education and regulation to ensure developing countries can participate in helping shape the technology.

“The way forward is really to invest to make sure that the AI benefits everyone, to recognise and acknowledge the fears and anxieties that people feel,” he said.

联合国信息通信技术机构副秘书长告诉半岛电视台，人工智能获取机会不均等意味着较贫穷的国家可能会被落下。

国际电信联盟（ITU）副秘书长托马斯·拉马瑙斯卡斯警告称，人工智能可能会加剧社会经济差距。[图片：Aziz Karimov/Getty Images]

卡塔尔多哈——一位联合国高级官员警告称，人工智能 (AI) 有可能扩大富裕国家和贫困国家之间的差距，并可能加深现有的社会和经济不平等。

国际电信联盟（ITU）副秘书长托马斯·拉马瑙斯卡斯告诉半岛电视台，发展中国家在从人工智能革命中受益方面面临着重大障碍。国际电信联盟是联合国专注于信息和通信技术的机构。

OpenAI表示，其代理关闭了自身的安全防护措施（共3条，第1条）。

特朗普在期中选举前夕表示，人工智能数据中心应该带来“红利”（共3条，此为第2条）。

加拿大出版商因小说中使用人工智能而终止与作家泰莉森·奥雷利安的合作（共3条记录，此为第3条）

“存在风险……我认为人工智能鸿沟才是真正的大问题，因为它不仅仅是数字鸿沟的问题，”拉马瑙斯卡斯周日在卡塔尔多哈举行的联合国贸易和发展会议（贸发会议）世界投资论坛间隙表示。

“人工智能在医疗、教育、公共服务、工业、农业和贸易等领域拥有巨大的潜力。因此，巨大的鸿沟可能意味着机会的鸿沟，并可能加剧社会经济鸿沟，”他说道。

“所以这才是真正令人担忧的地方。”

拉马瑙斯卡斯表示，这种差距在数字基础设施方面已经很明显，他以非洲和拉丁美洲为例，这两个地区加起来仅占全球数据中心容量的 3.3%。

“所以很明显，基础设施差距仍然相当大，”他说道，并补充说，全球仍有 22 亿人无法上网。

联合国开发计划署 (UNDP) 在 2025 年 12 月的一份报告中警告说，人工智能可能会引发国家间不平等的新时代，逆转数十年来在缩小国家间经济差距方面取得的进展。

联合国开发计划署警告说，电力供应不稳定、网络连接有限、缺乏技术技能的国家可能会错失人工智能带来的经济收益。

联合国官员拉马瑙斯卡斯表示，到 2030 年，弥合数字基础设施差距预计需要 2.8 万亿美元的投资。

他还补充说，各国之间的差距在人工智能的应用方面也显而易见。发达国家约有29%的劳动年龄人口使用生成式人工智能，而发展中国家的这一比例则下降到16%。

“这实际上会影响你的工作效率和参与就业市场的机会，”拉马瑙斯卡斯说。

拉马瑙斯卡斯承认，人们越来越担心人工智能会导致失业，他援引估计数据称，这项技术可能会取代 9000 万个工作岗位，但同时也会创造 1.7 亿个新的工作岗位。

然而，他警告说，即使有“净积极影响”，许多人也会亲身经历混乱，因为据估计，到 2030 年，40% 的工作场所技能可能会发生变化。

他还指出语言不平等问题，透露人工智能翻译工具中仅收录了 7% 的非洲语言，限制了数百万潜在用户的使用。

根据2月份发布的《2026年国际人工智能安全报告》，约有10亿人使用人工智能执行各种任务，包括寻求医疗健康指导和写作。

虽然没有具体数据，但该报告估计，发达经济体中约 60% 的工作岗位和新兴经济体中约 40% 的工作岗位可能会受到人工智能相关影响。

“这些担忧是真实的，”牛津大学专门研究人工智能安全和治理的高级研究员法兹尔·巴雷兹说。

然而，他提醒说，区分人工智能“自动化任务”和“取代整个工作”非常重要。

“哪些类型的工作可能会消失？那些涉及常规脑力劳动的工作尤其容易受到影响，但具体规模仍不确定，”巴雷兹告诉半岛电视台。

“人工智能驱动的自动化可能会削弱政府税基，降低生活水平，并削弱公民的权力。”

人工智能需要造福“所有人”。

尽管人们对人工智能革命感到担忧，但拉马瑙斯卡斯表示，他不认为“有可能阻止人工智能”或阻止其快速发展。

“人工智能已成为我们生活的一部分，并将改变我们的生活，”他说道，并指出目前已有 104 个国家制定了人工智能战略，而十年前只有 4 个国家制定了此类战略。

这位联合国官员补充说：“人工智能不是一项可以由一个人、一个组织或一家公司控制的技术。”

不过，他呼吁加大对数字基础设施、教育和监管方面的投资，以确保发展中国家能够参与塑造这项技术。

他说：“未来的发展方向是真正加大投入，确保人工智能造福所有人，并认识到人们的恐惧和焦虑。”