Bank’s chief knowledge officer says the tech could speed up economic development from centuries to decades
The World Bank is urging developing countries to kickstart the creation of “small AI” models, which can run on a mobile phone with low connectivity, to reap the full benefits of artificial intelligence.
While Silicon Valley big tech firms are focused on ever more sophisticated consumer products, Paschal Donohoe, the World Bank’s chief knowledge officer, said AI could also accelerate development for emerging economies – but only if it was adapted to local needs.
Small AI uses specialised models that are trained using narrower datasets for a specific purpose.
“We argue that economic development in the countries that we serve and partner with that could have taken centuries to make happen, the potential is there for that economic development now to happen within decades,” Donohoe said.
“Small AI would be available in a local setting, with low connectivity, and in the local language of the community – and tends to be available on your mobile phone.”
Donohoe, a former finance minister for Ireland, cited the example of Indian farmers engaged in the World Bank’s agricultural scheme, AgriConnect, who needed to access soil analysis in their own language.
“There’s not going to be enough scientists and agricultural experts to do that for every small farm in India. And this is where what we describe as ‘small AI’ comes in.
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