The Janus Face of Innovation: Global Disparities and Divergent Options
It addresses the problem of global AI disparities for developing countries, but is incremental in proposing solutions.
This paper examines how unequal access to AI innovation creates systemic challenges for developing countries, arguing that new institutional mechanisms for technology transfer and regulatory cooperation could help close the global technological divide while ensuring responsible AI development.
This article examines how unequal access to AI innovation creates systemic challenges for developing countries. Differential access to AI innovation results from the acute competition between domestic and global actors. While developing nations contribute significantly to AI development through data annotation labor, they face limited access to advanced AI technologies and are increasingly caught between divergent regulatory approaches from democratic and authoritarian tendencies. This brief paper analyzes how more affordable AI engagement and Western countries' development cooperation present developing nations with a complex choice between accessibility and governance standards. I argue this challenge entails new institutional mechanisms for technology transfer and regulatory cooperation, while carefully balancing universal standards with local needs. In turn, good practices could help developing countries close the deepening gap of global technological divides, while ensuring responsible AI development in developing countries.