World Bank Encourages Developing Nations To Embrace 'Small' AI To Accelerate Economic Growth

Small, compact AI models that run on cell phones with weak signals could be the key to unlocking accelerated growth in emerging economies, a senior World Bank official said during the annual meetings of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) taking place this week in Bangkok, Thailand.

"We argue that economic development in the countries that we serve and partner with that could have taken centuries to make happen, the potential is there for that economic development now to happen within decades," World Bank Managing Director and Chief Knowledge Officer Paschal Donohoe said, according to the Guardian.

"Small AI would be available in a local setting, with low connectivity, and in the local language of the community – and tends to be available on your mobile phone," the Irish economist continued.

"Small AI", or "small language models", refer to lightweight artificial intelligence models which require minimal computing power to function, can operate with weak internet connections and consume smaller amounts of energy than all-purpose "large language models" built by tech giants.

According to the World Bank, these models, which the World Bank Group has been "enabling", are designed "to solve specific, local development challenges where infrastructure and skills are limited."

The World Bank goes on to claim that small AI has already produced tangible results in many developing nations, helping farmers identify crop pests, allowing healthcare professionals to screen for tuberculosis without reliable broadband connectivity, and providing students with access to AI tutors.

Donohoe pointed to an example of Indian farmers using the World Bank's agricultural scheme, AgriConnect, needing to access soil analysis in their own language as evidence of the potential market for SmallAI products in developing economies.

"There's not going to be enough scientists and agricultural experts to do that for every small farm in India. And this is where what we describe as 'small AI' comes in. Because small AI is AI that would be available on your phone, that can help deliver against those information needs," Donohoe argued.

Collaboration between governments, the World Bank and the private sector could lead to the creation of such products, he suggested.

Discrepancies in usage of generative AI chatbots like OpenAI's ChatGPT, which are enabled by large language models, between high- and low-income countries are stark; by April 2025, nearly a quarter of internet users in high-income countries had adopted ChatGPT, compared to just 0.7% in low-income countries, a World Bank report revealed.

During a World Bank Group panel on small AI held on October 11, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva stressed that some basic "preconditions" had to be met to allow for the creation of any workable AI systems in low-income nations, such as widespread popular "access to electricity" and "digital infrastructure."