Artificial intelligence (AI) and South Asian economies: navigating opportunities and facing challenges

The rapid advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming economies and societies worldwide, presenting both immense opportunities and complex challenges for South Asia. As a region known for its diverse geography, growing economies, young tech-savvy workforce, and cultural heterogeneity, Southeast Asia is well-positioned to harness AI for innovation, competitiveness, and social good. However, realizing the full potential of AI in the region requires navigating a complex web of historical, political, and economic factors, including the region’s colonial past, its structural inequalities, weak states, and its position within the global economic system. This chapter explores the opportunities and challenges of AI for economic development in South Asia, drawing on insights from political economy, philosophy, history, science and technological studies, and other disciplines. It examines the current state of AI production, development, adoption, and accessibility in the region, its potential economic impacts, and the social and political dimensions of AI governance. The chapter, apropos a politico-economic cartography and analysis of core-periphery relations in the global market, highlights the historical patterns of dependency and subjugation between South Asia and the powerful industrial global North. It concludes with a call to action for South Asian policymakers and civil society organizations to proactively push for the native ownership, production, and governance of AI in the region, ensuring that its transformative potential is harnessed for egalitarian objectives, inclusive growth, and shared prosperity. Key issues dealt with are artificial intelligence, the Fourth Industrial Revolution, South Asian economic development, technological dependence, and core-periphery.