3 minutes read
It’s hard to conceive of a modern world without shipping vessels connecting the globe and facilitating global trade, but when powerful new maritime technologies first emerged, they wreaked havoc on the global order and helped establish European political and technological primacy for centuries.
In a not dissimilar manner, the last few decades have seen the Internet establish itself as not only the connector and facilitator of global trade but also how we live, work, and play. And a few countries – one more so than others – that were early movers in the space have established dominant companies and services that are global in nature.
Today, we are seeing the next cycle of transformation as the capabilities of Artificial Intelligence (AI) grow by the day. Applications such as ChatGPT and Deepseek are just the tip of the iceberg; AI agents that specialise in any virtual task you can think of are on the way, even AI agents with doctoral research capabilities have been announced. AI can already build a website for you, create a short film based on a few sentences, or write a blog post (no, not this one!).
Much like when European nations took to the seas centuries ago, and bigtech’s dominance of the Internet in the modern era, countries and communities were left behind.
This does beg the question: What is going to happen to countries which don’t have the resources or digital literacy to engage with digital technologies in the age of AI?
Economic opportunities hinge on Digital Development
There’s widespread concern over the possibility of economic upheaval as jobs are automated. But history has tended to show that new jobs emerge alongside the new technologies. This doesn’t, however, preclude a period of upheaval as skills gathered over decades are suddenly rendered redundant.
But in a globalised economy where workers can work from anywhere, who is going to be able to get those new jobs? Who will be positioned to harness new technologies to uplift their economies and improve both healthcare and education?
It is not yet a foregone conclusion that developing countries will lose out, but Digital Development efforts made now, while the future under AI is still being shaped, are likely to pay enormous dividends in the medium and long term.
There’s no one-size fits all solution to Digital Development
This is a core belief for those of us working at the APNIC Foundation. Our view of Digital Development has been shaped by the Internet’s key role in all of these technologies, and from the progress we have seen in initiatives like our ISIF Asia grant program which in its 16 years of operation has invested more than USD 10 million across hundreds of innovative Digital Development initiatives in the Asia Pacific.
Because there really is no one-size-fits-all solution. Even connectivity, alone, isn’t enough (and even delivering connectivity is much more complex than just finding a satellite connection). Digital Literacy initiatives are necessary not only to ensure that people can generate economic benefit from the Internet, but also to protect themselves against cybersecurity threats as they voyage out into the Internet for the first time.
Digital Literacy is paramount
Digital Literacy skills are an absolute prerequisite in the age of AI, because without a populace that can engage safely with the Internet, how can they play a role in the discussions moving forward? How can they ensure that AI affects their community on their own terms, instead of merely being swept away? How can they fully leverage all that digital tools can provide?
As the nature of work changes and these technologies become ubiquitous there are perhaps three possible pathways:
- The technology makes no inroads in developing or least developed economies and the people are left behind.
- The technology does make inroads in these areas, but the vast majority of people don’t have the skills or ability to benefit from it in a meaningful way.
- The people are well positioned to take advantage of these technologies and are able to leverage its social and economic benefits.
I know which future I’d like to see. We invite you to collaborate with us in making digital development happen in these communities.
