Could Apec’s rules help close the growing AI gap between rich and poor?

A recent event in southern China heard the bloc’s flexible structure could help in developing a fairer regulatory system

Speakers at the event warned there was a risk innovation could largely benefit a few countries and businesses, and proposed a range of solutions, including joint programmes and taking full advantage of Apec’s flexible structures.

Chung Chul, senior vice-president of the Korea Institute for International Economic Policy, said the economic gap was “widening, not shrinking” and an “inclusive” framework designed to tackle this problem “cannot be treated as a residual outcome. Instead, it should be something considered beforehand, not just after innovation.”

He said this principle should be fundamental to any form of technological cooperation and innovation, adding: “So the central policy question is not whether Apec should use AI but whether the region can scale innovation without widening the gap.”

Figures from the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development indicate the global AI landscape and its rule-making processes are heavily concentrated in the hands of a small group of nations and roughly 100 corporations.