Has Artificial Intelligence contributed to an increase in socio-economic Inequality?

According to the Pew Research center, many wonder if improvements in AI will impact humanity, and the inherent inequalities within human societies. The research concluded that 63% of respondents were positive that by 2030 many people would have increased living standards, while 37% claimed otherwise. Every passing day the interest in AI applications is increasing. About 36,524 individuals now qualify as AI specialists and in near future AI will replace repetitive jobs and create new ones.

To compare the risks and benefits of artificial intelligence, the issues that I will be exploring its effect on Digital Divide and Human Agency.

Digital Divide

As defined by the UN, the issue of the algorithmic digital divide is unequal access to
information across groups of individuals who possess advanced communication technologies as
compared to those who do not.

On a global scale, different perspectives about the effect of AI on the digital divide can be observed. The World Economic Forum states that computerization will cause about 85 million redundancies by 2025. Kai Fu-Lee, an AI specialist, also predicted that the continuing emergence of AI will escalate wealth inequality. This is so, because a smaller proportionate number of people are becoming affluent as compared to a much larger number of people becoming jobless as a result of substitution with capital in automatable fields. Boston Consulting Group produced a report (2017) stating that almost 15 million people are on the brink of joblessness. Thus, AI will widen economic and digital divides.

An account by Salil K. et al. in 2021 mentions that from October 2020, just 47.1 % of Africans had Internet availability, in contrast with 90.3 % Americans and 87.2 % Europeans. The unequal availability of technology has led to vast growth in some countries while others are struggling to give their citizens a living above the poverty line.

The consequences of the digital divide affect developing nations more than developed countries. This is so, because workers in developed nations are more capable of training themselves with new skills whereas in developing countries people are still stuck with basic jobs which are being substituted by AI. As mentioned in another study, by Kelly J. in 2018, Artificial Intelligence has been an essential factor in the U.S. for income inequality in recent times. “The National Bureau of Economic Research” states that 60% of fluctuations in U.S. salaries, from late 1900s were a result of the workforce being substituted by machinery.

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Additionally, social challenges are another consequence of artificial intelligence. Chioma Nwaodike in 2020 mentions in his report that 71.8% Africans are deprived of internet usage. On a local scale, advancement in Artificial Intelligence, has amplified the digital divide within Africa which leads to Technological discrimination and social exclusion. On the other hand, in Africa the use of AI in making power grids more efficient, will improve electricity services. Thus, if used with intelligence, AI can play a role in combating social and economic challenges in Africa.