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

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.

“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.

Loss of jobs

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.