Artificial intelligence, jobs and growth in developing economies

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On 4 August, the World Bank Group's World Development Report 2026 set out a significant opportunity for developing economies: 4.5% of jobs in low- and middle-income countries are exposed to automation, compared with 14.2% in high-income ones, and the productivity gains are there for governments that adopt, adapt and then advance. 

The report's authors will set out that case in full, from the exposure estimates to the electricity, connectivity, data and skills the Bank identifies as needed alongside the technology. Low exposure may be less a shield than a reflection of the kinds of jobs that make up developing economies in the first place, and the scale of the gains the report projects will depend on how quickly those complements are put in place.  

The discussion then asks who should finance and deliver the investments needed, what is at stake if they arrive too late, and whether reliance on a small number of global AI firms can offer a path to higher growth without creating new forms of technological dependence.