December 2, 2025

The Next Great Divergence: Why AI may widen inequality between countries

UN Entity:

UNDP

SDGs:

All

Innovation Area:

Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning

AI can lift growth, expand opportunities, improve public services, and strengthen resilience. The same technologies, however, can accelerate exclusion, undermine governance, and raise human insecurity. This report links AI to global inequality, labor market disruption, gender gaps in access, and differences in state capacity and trust. In Asia and the Pacific, AI readiness exceeds 70% in advanced economies but falls below 20% in fragile states, highlighting how uneven the starting line already is.

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