Chapter 4. AI’s Economic Impact: Transforming Jobs, Productivity, and Growth - World Development Report 2026 THE PROMISE OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

Chapter 4. AI’s Economic Impact: Transforming Jobs, Productivity, and Growth AI is transforming jobs, productivity and growth. With most people employed in manual rather than cognitive work in developing countries, the immediate impact of AI adoption is to complement rather than displace workers—with early signs of job disruption concentrated in knowledge-intensive services. Over time, as complementary factors—infrastructure, skills, and institutions—develop, AI can enable productive busi­nesses to grow. In the absence of the right com­plements, AI may widen gaps in productivity between developing countries and high-income countries, where AI adop­tion is higher. AI can also have cascading effects through disrupting trade patterns, increasing human capital, raising energy costs, and creating economic volatility. https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/af0f9d6a-e580-48db-bc55-004cf3d81c5f/content DOWNLOAD CHAPTER 4DOWNLOAD SPOTLIGHT 2 https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/78520abd-b5e2-4bcf-befe-ca12b11cf919/content