First, there was a big wave of democratization of knowledge due to the rise of the internet. Now, the accessibility of generative AI is creating another wave of democratized knowledge. This knowledge is even more personalised, and needs less effort and expertise to be used in an effective way. As a result more people have access to informationand can even use information that might have previously been too complex to use for them. In a sense, less skilled individuals will be able to use AI tools to augment their own skills.
On the one hand this creates more equal opportunities. For example, it enables people with fewer resources to start a brand by using AI tools that can generate good names, icons and designs. It also enables people with poor writing skills to write a professional text to present their plans. I for example I tried out the ai tool flair.ai, which is a content-generating software created to help content creators, marketeers, and business owners affordably and quickly produce content. It takes a bit of getting used, but it is fairly easy to get the hang of and to create branded content that looks professional.
On the other hand, it is important to keep in mind that the use of AI requires access to the internet, meaning that knowledge will only be further democratized to societies that already have access to the internet. Although the number of individuals with an online presence and digitized lifestyle in other parts of the world has significantly grown, Africa is still lagging in the race. Despite the rising number of users, the internet penetration rate stood at around 43 percent in 2021, below a global average of 66 percent (Statista, 2023). This means that a large part of the African population does not have access to the internet and thus also not to all the AI resources available. In turn, this means that all the other geographical areas will have very easy access to resources and opportunities to participate in the world economy while a big part of Africa will have none at all. This could make the gap between the two worlds even bigger.
Statista. (2023, September 22). Africa number of internet users by country 2023 | Statista. Retrieved October 16, 2023, from https://www.statista.com/statistics/505883/number-of-internet-users-in-african-countries/
