By: Nana
Appiah Acquaye
Artificial intelligence
could help governments drive economic growth, create jobs and reduce fiscal
deficits, but realising these benefits will require public trust, equitable
access to AI models and investment in workforce skills, according to a PwC report
commissioned by Google.
The report, AI Works for
Governments, was presented by PwC US Lead Client Partner Bhushan Sethi at a
roundtable held on the sidelines of the IMF and World Bank Annual Meetings in
Bangkok, Thailand.
Hosted by the Business
Council for International Understanding (BCIU) in partnership with Google and
Thailand’s Ministry of Digital Economy and Society, the session brought
together policymakers, central bankers and business leaders from emerging
markets to discuss the economic opportunities associated with artificial
intelligence.
Participants examined the
potential triple dividend of AI adoption: GDP growth, job creation and reduced
fiscal deficits.
Sethi said policymakers
recognised that these benefits could not be realised without a deliberate focus
on building public trust, providing equitable access to AI models, and
educating and upskilling the current and future workforce in business, human and
technical skills.
He also highlighted the need
to manage the transition effectively amid an uncertain global environment.
The discussions reinforced
concerns about the widening gap between the number of young people entering the
workforce in developing countries and the jobs expected to be available.
According to figures cited
by Sethi, around 1.2 billion young people will enter the workforce in
developing countries over the next 10 to 15 years, while only about 420 million
jobs are expected to exist.
He also pointed to the
potential of “Small AI” — affordable, accessible and context-specific
artificial intelligence that runs on everyday smartphones and laptops, learns
from smaller datasets and is tailored to local challenges in sectors such as
agriculture, health and education.
Sethi said effective
investment and deployment could make AI a force multiplier, enabling large
firms and micro, small and medium-sized enterprises to reimagine sectors,
products and services.
“The question is whether we
can do it at the scale that gap demands,” he said.
He also acknowledged Google
partners Doron Avni and Olga Skorokhodova for their collaboration and Adrian J.
Viller for moderating the session.
