Access to capital may prove to be the greatest barrier for developing countries, causing even more significant inequity and narrowing of upward paths than labor skills and closeness to markets.
As pointed out in the article, manufacturing increasingly demands greater up-front capital investment - advanced machinery, R&D, and a highly skilled but small workforce of operators, to compete on the global stage. Service industries require deep familiarity with the customers, whether it's b2c or b2b. Supply chains increasingly require AI-native tools and know-how.
However, a counter-argument could be that AI levels the barrier to entry for a younger, educated workforce, who can adopt technologies more quickly, bootstrap using AI, and require less up-front compensation. Advanced economies are suffering from a fertility and aging demographic crisis, and this may offer some advantages to the global south, even though other headwinds may dampen the current strategy of labor arbitrage.
AI isn’t just tech — it’s an infrastructure of influence. When compute power, data, and capital concentrate, the system doesn’t lift economies — it absorbs them into existing hierarchies. Real equity needs decentralization, not exportable code.
For the past 2 decades we’ve prioritized STEM training and careers, with AI these skills will be less required while the traditional greek education that develops the whole person while emphasizing critical thinking and debate skills will be even more important. Everything old is new again.
Access to capital may prove to be the greatest barrier for developing countries, causing even more significant inequity and narrowing of upward paths than labor skills and closeness to markets.
As pointed out in the article, manufacturing increasingly demands greater up-front capital investment - advanced machinery, R&D, and a highly skilled but small workforce of operators, to compete on the global stage. Service industries require deep familiarity with the customers, whether it's b2c or b2b. Supply chains increasingly require AI-native tools and know-how.
However, a counter-argument could be that AI levels the barrier to entry for a younger, educated workforce, who can adopt technologies more quickly, bootstrap using AI, and require less up-front compensation. Advanced economies are suffering from a fertility and aging demographic crisis, and this may offer some advantages to the global south, even though other headwinds may dampen the current strategy of labor arbitrage.
AI isn’t just tech — it’s an infrastructure of influence. When compute power, data, and capital concentrate, the system doesn’t lift economies — it absorbs them into existing hierarchies. Real equity needs decentralization, not exportable code.
For the past 2 decades we’ve prioritized STEM training and careers, with AI these skills will be less required while the traditional greek education that develops the whole person while emphasizing critical thinking and debate skills will be even more important. Everything old is new again.
What are the Russians doing (or not) in the AI-sphere? The lack of any dots in that huge geographic section of the world stood out to me.