Artificial Intelligence in the Global South: Power, Policy and Progress

Artificial Intelligence in the Global South examines how artificial intelligence is reshaping the Global South, not as an equal partner but often as an exploited periphery. It traces parallels between colonial extraction of resources and today’s extraction of data, compute, and invisible labour. The book shows how workers, languages, and infrastructures in Asia, Africa, and Latin America remain under-valued even while powering Northern AI progress. Yet it also highlights emerging opportunities of local innovation, policy frameworks and cultural resilience that could tilt the balance. By weaving mythology, philosophy and economics, it argues that AI’s future will remain unjust unless the Global South claims agency. Ultimately, it is a call to build fairer digital moats so that the next revolution is not simply coded elsewhere.

Readership: Students and researchers in AI ethics, development studies, political economy, and international relations; policymakers and regulators; and technology, business and investment professionals.