Digital divide

A cartoon of two people, stood underneath a horizontal turquoise rectangle. The rectangle is split down the middle from top to bottom. On the left-hand side is an internet symbol. On the right-hand side of a red circle with a diagonal cross in the centre.

It has long been acknowledged that access and competency in using technology can lead to societal impacts, with those unable to make use of such technologies being disadvantaged.

New divides are likely to emerge surrounding GenAI. Currently, GenAI is predominantly being used in WEIRD (Western, Educated, Industrialised, Rich, and Democratic) countries, which have good Internet connectivity, and where English is widely understood. Most GenAI tools have been predominantly trained on material from these societies.

Some countries dominate the production of the technology needed for GenAI systems: more than 90% of the chips which analyse and process the data used by LLMs are designed and assembled in only a handful of countries: the United States, Taiwan, China, South Korea, and Japan (Giattino et al., 2024). These countries could therefore decide on the future development and evolution of AI technologies.

Exacerbating these issues, some GenAI tools have underlying political biases. DeepSeek, the Chinese-developed GenAI tool, refuses to discuss the events in Tiananmen square [Tip: hold Ctrl and click a link to open it in a new tab. (Hide tip)] .

Even within the UK, there are individuals and communities who do not have access to digital tools such as GenAI due to poverty, a lack of skills, or their geographical location.

Legal implications

Deskilling