Glossary
AI in the Global South
The distinct opportunities, dependencies and governance challenges of AI in countries and communities historically marginalized in global technology rule-making.
Last reviewed 2026-08-22
In plain language
UNCTAD, UNDP, UNESCO, the African Union and others document gaps in compute, data infrastructure, language coverage, and representation in standards bodies. Policy agendas include capacity building, fair data value, labor in annotation supply chains, and avoiding regulatory copy-paste that ignores local legal systems. “Global South” is a political shorthand, not a homogeneous bloc.
Why it matters for AI governance
AI governance that is written only in North Atlantic institutions will miss development, linguistic and civic realities. This cluster is foundational for an internationally useful directory.