The bank says low-cost, adaptable AI could bolster public services and growth in poorer countries, where fewer jobs face automation risk than in rich economies but dependence and inequality remain concerns.
Simple, low-cost artificial intelligence tools could help developing economies improve public services and revive weak growth, the World Bank said in its upcoming World Development Report 2026, arguing that countries should adopt the technology quickly or risk falling further behind. Chief Economist Indermit Gill described AI as a "lifeline" for countries facing stagnant growth and strained public services. Rather than urging poorer nations to build frontier models or invest heavily in large data centers, the report points to "small AI" applications that can be deployed now in health, education, agriculture and public administration. The bank said developing economies are experiencing their weakest average growth in 30 years and presented AI as a way to accelerate development timelines. It proposed an "adopt-adapt-advance" framework supported by the "four Cs": connectivity, compute, context and data, and competency and skills. The report also said middle-income countries accounted for 50% of ChatGPT traffic within six months of its launch. While jobs in low- and middle-income countries are more than three times less susceptible to AI automation than those in wealthier economies because their labor markets rely more on manual, agricultural and informal work, the bank warned that call centers, data entry and some manufacturing roles could come under pressure. It also cautioned that AI could widen inequality if gains accrue mainly to urban, educated groups, and that countries relying on foreign-built systems for critical services may deepen dependence on outside platforms.