The Next Great Divergence: Why AI May Widen Inequality Between Countries

The UNDP’s flagship report, The Next Great Divergence: Why AI May Widen Inequality Between Countries, highlights how the pressures of inequity are playing out most visibly in Asia and the Pacific, a region marked by vast differences in income, digital readiness, and institutional capacity. The report outlines practical pathways for countries to harness AI’s opportunities while managing its risks in support of broader human development. Digital Futures Lab contributed one of the nine background papers that this report draws on as part of UNDP's multinational effort spanning Asia, Europe and North America.

Read our paper here:

Other partners were: Massachusetts Institute of Technology (USA), the London School of Economics and Political Science (UK), the Max Planck Institute for Human Development (Germany), Tsinghua University and the Institute for AI International Governance (China), the University of Science and Technology of China, and the Aapti Institute (India).

Read the complete report here: