AI that serves communities, not the other way round
Shifting the focus from powerful algorithms to local voices, a global panel explored how AI can thrive in the Global South without leaving its communities behind.
At the WSIS+20 High-Level Event in Geneva, a vivid discussion unfolded around how countries in the Global South can build AI capacity from the ground up, rooted in local realities rather than externally imposed models. Organised by the Diplo and partners, including Kenya’s Permanent Mission to the UN, Microsoft, and IT for Change, the session used the fictional agricultural nation of ‘Landia’ to spotlight the challenges and opportunities of community-centred AI development.
With weak infrastructure, unreliable electricity, and fragmented data ecosystems, Landia embodies the typical constraints many developing nations face as they navigate the AI revolution.
UN Tech Envoy Amandeep Singh Gill presented a forthcoming UN report proposing a five-tiered framework to guide countries from basic AI literacy to full development capacity. He stressed the need for tailored, coordinated international support—backed by a potential global AI fund—to avoid the fragmented aid pitfalls seen in climate and health sectors.
Microsoft’s Ashutosh Chadha echoed that AI readiness is not just a tech issue but fundamentally a policy challenge, highlighting the importance of data governance, education systems, and digital infrastructure as foundations for meaningful AI use.
Civil society voices, particularly from IT4Change’s Anita Gurumurthy and Nandini Chami, pushed for ‘regenerative AI’—AI that is indigenous, inclusive, and modular. They advocated for small-scale models that can run on local data and infrastructures, proposing creative use of community media archives and agroecological knowledge.
Speakers stressed that technology should adapt to community needs, not the reverse, and that AI must augment—not displace—traditional practices, especially in agriculture where livelihoods are at stake.
Ultimately, the session crystallised around a core principle: AI must be developed with—not for—local communities. Participants called for training unemployed youth to support rural farmers with accessible AI tools, urged governments to invest in basic infrastructure alongside AI capacity, and warned against replicating inequalities through automation.
The session concluded with optimism and a commitment to continue this global-local dialogue beyond Geneva, ensuring AI’s future in the Global South is not only technologically viable, but socially just.
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