The Global South's Great Opportunity in the Face of the AI Revolution

Artificial intelligence is reshaping global power dynamics, and those of us in the Global South—from Africa and the Caribbean to Southeast Asia and South America—must seize this moment to foster a community-based approach to this technology.

Low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) are at a crossroads with AI: it could become a mechanism for asserting our sovereignty and delivering inclusive prosperity, or the ultimate tool of exploitation.

LMICs have the opportunity to prevent this. We already have the talent, resources, and vision to ensure AI meets our needs. With greater coordination, investment in distributed computing, and grassroots innovation, we can establish a more just technological order that creates value for communities in the Global South, strengthens their capacity to respond, and solves the most pressing challenges facing the planet.

Modern AI systems rely on data labeled by people from LMICs, but the Global North retains control of the industry and its profits , relegating populations in the Global South to the role of passive participants with high usage rates, rather than innovators or equal players.

To overcome these models, we must harness the potential of our young, digitally native populations. Unencumbered by rigid systems and processes, we can build agile, purpose-driven data architectures tailored to our needs.

Turning scarcity into innovation starts with education . That could mean introducing coding classes in schools or creating AI literacy programs to build a digitally fluent workforce.

Developing local business models and open-source deep technology tools will be equally important. This requires maximizing existing resources and leveraging the benefits of models from the Global North, while moving beyond them.

We must also be prepared to create our own innovation ecosystem. Government programs, fiscal policies, and other measures are essential to supporting bottom-up initiatives in LMICs.

Even as we chart our own path, our communities and experts must engage in efforts to shape global AI ethics and governance, which requires establishing meaningful, equitable, and collaborative partnerships. LMICs must act collectively to determine how best to develop a shared AI infrastructure and pool resources. This collaborative framework requires open dialogue, knowledge sharing, and mutual support.

(*) Founder and CEO of Amini, an AI startup developing data infrastructure in the Global South. She is Vice Chair of the International Chamber of Commerce's Global Committee on Environment and Energy.

This article is an edited version of the original.