World Bank study: AI threatens more jobs in rich countries, including Czechia, than in poorer economies
According to a World Bank study, AI threatens 14.2 % of jobs in high-income countries, including Czechia, compared with just 4.5 % in poorer countries. At the same time, AI can increase productivity in a similar proportion of jobs in both groups of countries.
According to a World Bank report, artificial intelligence threatens significantly more jobs in rich countries than in low- and middle-income countries. In high-income countries, a category in which the World Bank includes Czechia and Slovakia (alongside Germany, the USA, the United Arab Emirates, Japan and South Korea, among others), 14.2 % of jobs are at risk of automation. In middle- and low-income countries (e.g. Brazil, China, Mexico, India, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Ethiopia), the figure is just 4.5 % – less than a third as many. According to the study, this is because advanced economies have a higher proportion of occupations in which AI can take over some or most work tasks.
The report also points out that AI need not be only a threat to developing countries, but can also be an opportunity to increase productivity: according to the estimate, it could make work more efficient in 16.2 % of jobs in developing countries, a figure close to the expected benefit of 18.7 % in rich countries. According to the report, World Bank Chief Economist Indermit Gill said that poorer countries do not need large language models or large data centres to use AI – even smaller and cheaper tools can improve access to healthcare, education or agricultural assistance for millions of people.
The authors of the report also warn that realising the potential of AI requires suitable conditions, especially access to internet connectivity and stable energy supplies, which governments in poorer countries should ensure. According to the World Bank, without targeted measures, AI could instead widen disparities between countries, increase inequality within individual countries and lead to further concentration of market power among a few dominant companies.
Why it matters
The finding suggests that, according to the World Bank, the impact of AI on the labour market will vary significantly depending on a country's wealth – employees in advanced economies, including Czechia, face a higher risk of their work tasks being replaced, while developing countries may benefit from AI more as a tool for increasing productivity, provided that infrastructure (internet, energy) is available. The report also warns that without targeted measures, AI could deepen inequality both between and within countries and strengthen the market power of a few dominant companies.
Two audiences, two different impacts
What this means
For individuals
According to the study, people working in Czechia are among employees in high-income countries, where AI threatens a larger proportion of jobs (14.2 %) than in poorer countries (4.5 %), so the report indicates that they face a higher risk of their work tasks being partially or fully replaced by automation.
More practical updates →For a business
According to the study, companies in Czechia and other high-income countries face a higher proportion of jobs at risk of automation (14.2 %) than companies in poorer countries (4.5 %), increasing the pressure to plan workforce and technology strategies; at the same time, there is a similarly substantial opportunity to increase productivity (18.7 % of jobs in rich countries, 16.2 % in developing countries).
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