The Promise of Artificial Intelligence | 2026 World Development Report

Over the next decade, 1.2 billion young people in developing countries will need productive jobs. AI could help — but only if the right choices are made now. The World Bank Group's World Development Report 2026 finds that AI is already helping doctors diagnose patients, farmers make better decisions, and governments deliver services at scale. The greatest promise for developing countries lies not in replacing workers, but in amplifying what they can do — and if they act now, AI could help them achieve in a decade what might otherwise take a century. Yet without deliberate action, AI could widen inequality, concentrate market power, and leave the most vulnerable further behind. The question is whether the decisions shaping AI's future are made by default — or by design. Read the full report "The Promise of Artificial Intelligence" and explore the evidence: