It's easy to get swept up in the narrative of advanced AI and robotics transforming our world
It's a future that, on the surface, everyone would be happy to have. We imagine smart homes, automated factories, and perhaps even robotic companions. But then my mind drifts to the vast disparities in technological access across our planet.
Consider places like Boysun, a remote village in Uzbekistan, where women meticulously prepare dried dungs (cow's excrements) to use as fuel for fire. The cultural space of Boysun is included into UNESCO cultural heritage, by the way. Located in the Surkhandarya region of Central Asia, it was once a legendary place. It was through Boysun that the trade caravans of the Great Silk Road passed on their way to India. The area is home to unique archaeological sites, including the Teshik-Tash cave, the Kushan fortress of Payonkurgan, the Kurganzol fortress from the era of Alexander the Great, ancient rock paintings, and even dinosaur tracks.
This land, steeped in such immense history and significance, now feels a world away from its former glory. The legendary past is a huge contrast to a present where it appears lost to time, disconnected from the very global progress.
As Uzbek journalist Forida Abduraxmanova describes it on her Facebook page as "grey, dusty, as if a time capsuled here." It's a place with no opportunities for its youth.
No gas, no water.
No AI. No technology whatsoever.
“The husbands go to work in Russia, and the wives and children stay at home. Young children grow up without their fathers, and you can feel it in their glances. I tried to play with them, tickle them, make them laugh—but a smile never appeared. Their eyes are serious, stern, as if they already understand more than they should at their age. It left a heavy feeling in me, as if childhood here has been stolen by life itself”, adds Fotima in her publication on Facebook.
A real evidence that while some parts of the world are discussing armies of humanoid robots, others are still grappling with fundamental needs and relying on age-old methods for survival.
This vast chasm makes me wonder:
As we push the boundaries of AI and robotics, are we also widening the gap between the technologically advanced and those who remain largely untouched by these revolutions?
The Data Behind the Divide
This isn't just a philosophical question; it's a core concern for global policy makers. According to a recent World Trade Report from the World Trade Organization (WTO), AI has the potential to lead to a significant 12-13% increase in global GDP by 2040, and a surge in global trade by as much as 37%. However, as WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala warns, "access to AI technologies and the capacity to participate in digital trade remains highly uneven."
While AI-enabling goods like semiconductors and raw materials were traded at a volume of $2.3 trillion in 2023, access to these essential components remains far from equitable. The report points out that some low-income economies face tariffs as high as 45% on these goods, which severely limits their ability to participate in this new digital economy. At the same time, quantitative restrictions on AI-related goods have climbed from just 130 in 2012 to nearly 500 in 2024, driven largely by high- and upper-middle-income economies (WTO report).
The report emphasizes that without proactive policies and investment in education and skills, the inequality within and between economies will only widen.
World Bank emphasizes, that despite its benefits, the AI wave presents significant challenges to developing economies, as its productivity gains are largely concentrated in wealthy nations and major tech firms, which risks widening the global income gap. It could also erode the competitive advantage of countries reliant on cheap labor, reduce economic incentives for trade, and disrupt traditional growth models by automating jobs and increasing inequality (World Bank report).
The Starkest Divide: Afghanistan
For those in power, denying access to technology is often a deliberate choice. In Afghanistan, for instance, a devastating human rights crisis has been underway since 2021. The de facto authorities have implemented a series of decrees that have made Afghanistan the only country in the world where girls are banned from attending secondary school and women from universities.
This deliberate exclusion goes far beyond education. Women are barred from most jobs, forbidden from traveling without a male guardian, and restricted from public spaces like parks and gyms. These policies have a devastating economic and social toll:
- Economic cost - the exclusion of women from the workforce has led to an immense economic loss for the country, estimated to be billions of dollars.
- Health crisis - the restrictions have triggered a severe mental health crisis, with a sharp rise in anxiety and depression. Access to healthcare has also become a life-threatening challenge, as female medical students are banned from studying and women are often unable to be treated by male doctors
The Future (and the Present) left behind
The women of Boysun and Afghanistan aren't just a symbol of a bygone era. They represent a present-day reality for millions who stand on the other side of the growing technological divide. For them, basic utilities like gas are nonexistent, and even a potable water is a luxury (!).
Their daily struggle for survival or their fight for fundamental rights isn't a lack of ambition or ingenuity; it's a consequence of deep-seated issues that technology alone cannot fix. Their reality isn't a historical footnote; it is the human cost of a future where technology serves some but not all. It reminds us that for AI to truly be a tool for global progress, we must first address the foundational inequalities that keep a large part of the world from even entering the conversation.
By the end of the day, we see the same main actors in the technological market bragging about their revenues.
Meanwhile, women living in vulnerable places still don't have access to basic living conditions or human rights.