New report from UNDP: Will AI create a new Great Divergence?

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is transforming the world at a pace unmatched by previous technologies. From personalised education and advanced healthcare diagnostics to climate modelling and smarter governance, AI holds extraordinary promise to improve lives and accelerate progress. But this promise is not without risks. A new report from UNDP, The Next Great Divergence: Why AI May Widen Inequality Between Countries, whose principal author is LSE's Professor Michael Muthukrishna, warns that without deliberate action, AI could deepen global inequality instead of driving inclusion.

Two centuries ago, the Industrial Revolution triggered the Great Divergence, leaving many regions behind for decades. Today, AI is advancing even faster, and the risk of repeating history is real. The Asia-Pacific region illustrates these divides vividly: while countries like China and Singapore invest heavily in AI infrastructure and education, others struggle with basic connectivity. These gaps exist within nations too, where wealthy cities contrast sharply with poorer provinces. Whether AI becomes a force for inclusion or deepens inequality will depend on the choices we make now, argues the report.

AI offers powerful tools to bridge divides, such as virtual tutors for remote schools, diagnostic support for underserved clinics, and climate models for disaster preparedness. But there are risks too — dependency on foreign systems, lack of governance capacity, and uneven access could leave vulnerable communities further behind. To address the risks, the report offers a practical phased roadmap: immediate steps like expanding connectivity and AI literacy, medium-term investments in infrastructure and regulation, and long-term integration of successful pilots. It argues that, with a human-centred approach and strong safeguards, AI can expand opportunity instead of inequality.