Could AI transform life in developing countries?
Optimists hope it will ease grave shortages of human capital
TWENTY-FIVE years ago your correspondent hired a cellphone in Congo. Each day, it cost what a typical local made in several months. The handset was as heavy as a half-brick and only somewhat more useful. Practically no one else in Congo had one, bar cabinet ministers and tycoons, so there were not many people to call. In those days, mobile phones had made no detectable difference to most people’s lives in the world’s poorest countries.
Explore more
This article appeared in the Briefing section of the print edition under the headline “Chatbots for the bottom four billion”
Briefing January 27th 2024
From the January 27th 2024 edition
Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents
Explore the editionMore from Briefing
The right in Congress and the courts will reshape Donald Trump’s agenda
As dominant as the new president is, there is still life in Washington’s institutions
How far will Donald Trump go to get rid of illegal immigrants?
It is his signature policy, but the obstacles are daunting
Young customers in developing countries propel a boom in plastic surgery
Falling costs and converging beauty standards spur new habits
The Assad regime’s fall voids many of the Middle East’s old certainties
What if Syria abandoned its hostility to the West and stopped menacing Israel?
Syria has exchanged a vile dictator for an uncertain future
It is not clear how stable or how benign the new regime will be
Gambling is growing like gangbusters in America
Technology and legal changes are spurring a betting bonanza