Nigeria cannot afford to miss the artificial intelligence revolution or risk widening the economic gap with countries that successfully harness the technology, Indermit Gill, the World Bank’s Chief Economist, said.
Gill said developing countries, including Nigeria, should approach artificial intelligence with optimism, arguing that the technology presents a major opportunity to improve productivity, strengthen public services and accelerate economic growth.
Speaking at the 7th Africa Emerging Markets Forum in Abuja co-organised by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Emerging Markets Forum and the Centre for the Study of the Economies of Africa (CSEA), Gill said fears surrounding AI’s impact on jobs and inequality in advanced economies should not be directly applied to developing countries, where the technology could complement workers and small businesses rather than replace them.
“There is a danger that countries like Nigeria, countries like India and others, will miss this industrial revolution,” Gill said in his keynote speech, which focused on Artificial Intelligence and Economic Development. “You have to remember, you have to look around yourself and say, what happened when you missed the industrial revolution? You ended up being behind for 200 years.”
