How Will AI Impact Digital Service Workers in the Global South?

The Internet has boosted opportunities for the Global South to participate in the market of digital services. But as multinationals race to adopt artificial intelligence (AI), many of the digital service jobs outsourced to the Global South may be impacted by AI-enabled tools largely developed in the Global North. These jobs include content moderation, transcription, translation, graphic design, and basic coding.

Some see this change as a key way to drive lagging productivity and an opportunity to meet the growing demand for data annotation jobs, prompt engineering, and metaverse development. Others see this transition as a way that lesser-developed countries will be left behind in the global economy. How should leaders in the Global South respond to these developments in digital services and AI? What kinds of policies can ensure that these countries can take advantage of digital development to boost incomes?

Watch the ITIF Center for Data Innovation event for a discussion about AI, jobs, and digital development in the Global South.