World Bank backs ‘small AI’ on phones for poorer nations, Guardian reports

The World Bank Group’s headquarters in Washington, DC, pictured in May 2013.

The World Bank wants developing countries to build “small AI”, compact models that run on a mobile phone with a weak signal.

Paschal Donohoe, the bank’s chief knowledge officer, said AI could speed up growth in emerging economies, but only if it fits local needs, the Guardian reported.

Small AI uses specialised models trained on narrower data for one task. Donohoe said such tools can work with weak connections, on phones and in local languages.

He said growth that could have taken centuries in the countries the bank serves might now happen faster.

“The potential is there for that economic development now to happen within decades,” he said.

Donohoe, a former Irish finance minister, pointed to Indian farmers in the bank’s AgriConnect scheme. They need soil analysis in their own language.

“There’s not going to be enough scientists and agricultural experts to do that for every small farm in India,” he said.

He said such products could come from the World Bank, governments and private companies working together.

AI was a central theme at this month’s World Bank and IMF meetings in Bangkok. IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva said governments must first provide power, digital infrastructure and protection from bad actors.

“If we work hard to have the basics for it, [adoption] can be very democratic. As democratic as the cellphone,” she said.

The gaps are large. The World Bank’s August development report found almost a third of rural schools in sub-Saharan Africa had no electricity.

Georgieva warned that 40% of jobs worldwide are likely to be changed or wiped out by AI over time. Young people starting out face the biggest risk, she said, as entry-level roles disappear.

The IMF has also said AI investment is propping up global growth.

Donohoe said the World Bank had raised $120bn in private capital over the past year, as countries including the US and UK cut aid budgets.

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