AI is taking over as the best way to optimize business operations and maximize revenue. With applications across industries including healthcare, finance, agriculture, and everything in between, AI is on its way to becoming standard for business operations.
As the AI transformation sweeps the world, it becomes crucial for countries with AI resources to help distribute them to underserved communities. AI is expected to boost the global GDP by $15.7 trillion by the year 2030, and if we don’t make an effort to make sure these opportunities are fairly distributed, we risk increasing the digital divide.
The digital divide refers to the gap between countries with abundant versus limited technological resources. Advancements from AI have the potential to broaden the divide if not implemented ethically. Opportunities that give people education on AI and data engineering, as well as career opportunities, can drive economic growth and create a lasting impact in underserved communities.
The Fusemachines AI Fellowship program offers a full scholarship to people who want to upskill and become AI experts. By cultivating AI talent in underserved areas through education and career opportunities, local and global economies improve.
So how can AI be used to drive economic growth in underserved countries?
Leveraging AI for Economic Growth
Improved Education
AI has the potential to revolutionize education in underserved countries, bringing with it changes that will significantly boost their economies. By harnessing AI-driven educational technologies, these regions can increase access to quality education and create a more skilled and knowledgeable workforce. AI-powered educational platforms offer personalized learning experiences, tailoring lessons to individual students’ needs.
Additionally, AI can facilitate the distribution of educational resources to remote areas, breaking down geographical barriers. An educated workforce means improved productivity and innovation, fostering economic growth.
Disaster Response
In underserved countries, natural disasters can be devastating to both the infrastructure and economy of a country. With less resources to aid people after disasters, and less preemptive infrastructure to prevent damage, the results of disasters hurt more people and are harder to solve in underserved areas. But with AI-enabled technologies, many of these dangerous issues can be rectified. AI models can use historical and current data on weather patterns to predict and assess the impact of disasters and streamline production processes for the faster distribution of life-saving resources.
Some countries are already working with AI companies to develop these solutions. This can help people to prepare for these disasters, leading to less casualties and less damage. More technology is being developed to predict floods, storms, and other natural disasters. Though disaster prediction, aid distribution, product manufacturing and more, AI can help rectify disasters that would otherwise damage the economy.
Smart Agriculture Systems
While countries globally have agriculture as an industry, it is particularly important for underserved countries. While many countries’ economies rely on the production of goods and services, underserved countries often rely on agriculture, with about 78% of impoverished people globally relying on it for their food and livelihood. In areas where agriculture is so important, making changes that optimize agricultural operations can have a major impact on the economy.
The applications for AI in agriculture are limitless, and will improve efficiency, productivity, and cost-effectiveness. AI can help with many aspects of the agricultural process. Monitoring for and protecting against damaging pests, analyzing climate and weather patterns to adapt crops accordingly, and smart irrigation systems that optimize water usage are just some of the ways AI can be used when farms. Even this financial side of agriculture can be improved with AI, like how Apollo Agriculture in Kenya uses AI insights and algorithms to give advice and loans to farmers. With such a large part of underserved economies relying on agriculture, the implementation of AI in this industry will have immense benefits.
Productivity Enhancement
AI can enhance productivity by automating tedious processes, using data to make strategic decisions that mitigate risk, and optimizing resource allocation and distribution. By enhancing productivity and subsequently improving businesses, these countries will be able to create more products and services, make more money, and boost their economies.
Additionally, an increase in job openings brought on by widespread AI implementation will boost the economy. AI is predicted to create 97 million jobs by 2027, jobs that require a level of AI expertise and experience. The demand for these jobs will increase career education opportunities and upskilling of employees. If we #DemocratizeAI through education and career opportunities, then underserved areas will be able to benefit from these changes. More people in underserved areas will have higher paying jobs, boosting the national GDP and driving economic growth.
Affordable and Accessible Healthcare
AI has the potential to revolutionize healthcare in underserved countries, offering transformative benefits that can significantly boost their economies. By leveraging AI-driven solutions, such as telemedicine and AI-powered diagnoses, healthcare accessibility and efficiency can be vastly improved. Telemedicine enables remote visits and medical advice, reaching patients in remote areas without the need for physical visits, and therefore reducing healthcare barriers. Technologies like drones are even being used to improve healthcare. For example, Fusemachines has successfully tested drones that deliver medical supplies to remote areas. Click here to see how local engineers in Khokana built and deployed this drone.
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AI-powered diagnostics can accurately and swiftly detect diseases, leading to earlier intervention and better outcomes. Moreover, AI can enhance healthcare data management, ensuring better patient records, and facilitating more informed decision-making by healthcare professionals. With improved healthcare, the overall population’s health improves, leading to a healthier and more productive workforce. As people become healthier and are better able to work, productivity increases, and healthcare-related costs decrease. These positive impacts on health and productivity contribute to the economic growth of underserved countries, ultimately leading to a stronger economy
Bottom Line
In this blog, we have discussed how AI can drive economic growth through agriculture, healthcare, education and more. The immense potential of AI is not fully realized, but it is clearly going to transform the economy. As countries begin to adopt these technologies, it becomes more important for underserved counties to embrace AI to stay competitive in the global economy. These communities must be given opportunities to adopt and invest in AI for a prosperous future.
Want to learn more? Click here to read about how Fusemachines works to #DemocratizeAI
Interested in becoming an AI expert? Click here to learn more about our AI Fellowship program.
