World Bank Urges Developing Countries to Build Small AI Models
The World Bank is urging developing countries to build small AI models that work on mobile phones, with limited connectivity and in local languages. Chief…
The World Bank is urging developing countries to build small AI models for mobile phones, saying locally adapted tools could help accelerate economic development. The models are designed to work with low connectivity and in local languages, an approach the bank says could make AI useful for communities that need practical services rather than sophisticated consumer products.
Paschal Donohoe, the World Bank’s chief knowledge officer, said economic development that might otherwise take centuries could potentially happen within decades. He cited Indian farmers in the bank’s AgriConnect agricultural scheme who need soil analysis in their own language.
Small AI is built for narrower purposes. Donohoe said a phone-based tool could help farmers access information where there are not enough scientists and agricultural experts to serve every small farm.
Local tools, practical needs
“Small AI would be available in a local setting, with low connectivity, and in the local language of the community – and tends to be available on your mobile phone,” Donohoe said.
The proposal differs from the focus of major technology firms in Silicon Valley, which the report says are pursuing increasingly sophisticated consumer products. Donohoe argued that AI’s benefits for emerging economies depend on adapting it to local needs, rather than assuming the same products will work everywhere.
For farmers, the example is concrete: accessing soil analysis in a language they use and on a device they already have. The World Bank says products of this kind could emerge through collaboration among the bank, governments and the private sector.
The discussion comes as the impact of AI on jobs and economic growth features at the annual meetings of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, held this week in Bangkok, Thailand. Speaking on a panel about the technology on Monday, IMF managing director Kristalina Georgieva said governments need to establish conditions that allow adoption while protecting people from bad actors.
Infrastructure and jobs remain concerns
“You need access to electricity. You need access to digital infrastructure. People have to be geared to adoption,” Georgieva said. She added that governments should provide safety measures so adoption can work.
The World Bank’s annual world development report, published in August, described AI’s potential benefits while pointing to gaps in basic infrastructure. Almost a third of rural schools in sub-Saharan Africa lacked electricity, and more than two-thirds did not have a consistent internet connection, the report said.
Those shortages matter for the small AI proposal itself. A model designed for low connectivity still depends on people having access to devices and enough infrastructure to use it. Georgieva said that if the basics were in place, adoption could be “as democratic as the cellphone.”
She also warned that 40% of jobs worldwide were likely to be either augmented or eliminated by AI over time, with young people entering the labour market particularly exposed. She said routine, repetitive work has often been an entry point for young workers, and questioned what happens if those jobs disappear.
Under president Ajay Banga, the World Bank has made attracting private-sector funding to emerging economies a focus. Donohoe said the bank had mobilised $120bn (£90bn) of private capital in the past year through guarantees and other financial instruments, as countries including the US and the UK were cutting aid budgets.
“We want to highlight the link between private capital mobilisation and jobs and economic development,” Donohoe said.
Source: theguardian.com
