Could AI transform life in developing countries?
Optimists hope it will ease grave shortages of human capital
TWENTY-FIVE years ago your correspondent hired a cellphone in Congo. Each day, it cost what a typical local made in several months. The handset was as heavy as a half-brick and only somewhat more useful. Practically no one else in Congo had one, bar cabinet ministers and tycoons, so there were not many people to call. In those days, mobile phones had made no detectable difference to most people’s lives in the world’s poorest countries.
Explore more
This article appeared in the Briefing section of the print edition under the headline “Chatbots for the bottom four billion”
From the January 27th 2024 edition
Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents
Explore the editionMore from Briefing
Chinese firms are growing rapidly in the global south
Western firms beware
A shift in the media business is changing what it is to be a sports fan
Team loyalty is being replaced by “fluid fandom”
Will Binyamin Netanyahu’s visit to America repair or weaken ties?
He may damage relations with Israel’s indispensable protector
Optimistic plans for post-war Gaza have little basis in reality
Aid, policing, reconstruction—everything is even harder than it sounds
Small investments in nutrition could make the world brainier
Many pregnant women and babies are malnourished—and not just in poor countries
Introducing “Boom!”
A six-part series about the generation that blew up American politics