Khethiwe Nkuna
As digital technologies rapidly transform how we learn, work, and connect, it’s clear that artificial intelligence (AI) holds tremendous promise for creating a more inclusive and equitable world. But it also carries the risk of deepening existing divides—unless we act intentionally.
At ORADA 2025, I had the honour of sharing insights on how AI can serve as a tool for social and economic inclusion, particularly across the Global South. My session focused on one key message: Inclusion won’t happen by default. It must be designed.
The pace of technological change is accelerating, and with it comes a growing responsibility to ensure that no one is left behind. AI is no longer the future—it is the present. Yet the benefits of AI are still not evenly distributed. If we don’t act with urgency, we risk reinforcing old inequalities in new ways.
Inclusion must be a conscious design principle in our digital era—not an afterthought. The decisions we make today will shape the digital societies of tomorrow. And the question we must ask is: who gets to participate in that future?
The Digital Divide in the Age of AI
Today, over 5 billion people are connected to the internet—but nearly 3 billion remain offline. The digital divide isn’t just about connectivity. It’s also about access to devices, digital literacy, language barriers, affordability, and equitable design. In many ways, this divide is a mirror reflecting systemic inequities in our societies.
Infrastructure gaps mean that rural and remote areas, particularly in the Global South, continue to face severe limitations in internet connectivity, digital tools, and electricity. This digital exclusion deepens existing socioeconomic challenges.
High data costs remain a significant barrier to access. For example, in many African countries, the cost of a simple video call could exceed the average daily wage. This drastically limits access to remote work, online learning, telemedicine, and civic participation.
Digital literacy is another major challenge. While access to a device is important, the ability to effectively use it is equally critical. Many educational platforms and AI-powered tools are developed in English, creating an accessibility gap for non-English-speaking populations.
Gender disparities further complicate the issue. In some regions, women are 20% less likely than men to own a smartphone. When women and girls are excluded from the digital space, we risk replicating offline inequalities in the digital world.
AI-Powered Solutions for Inclusion
AI, if deployed ethically and inclusively, can help bridge these gaps. It can personalise learning, improve public service delivery, and support marginalised groups with assistive technologies.
1. Education Access
AI-driven platforms, like Thooto in South Africa, personalise learning experiences, offering tailored assessments and content to help learners upskill and access job opportunities. Thooto’s adaptive AI aligns with national curriculum standards, supports multilingual learning, and provides learners with real-time feedback. This ensures a more equitable approach to education, especially for learners in under-resourced schools.
“Thooto shows how African-led innovation can drive grassroots economic participation.”
2. Job Training & Workforce Alignment
AI tools are now being used to close the gap between education and employment. These tools help users identify skill gaps, recommend relevant training, and connect them to jobs that match their strengths. Platforms powered by AI can offer personalised career guidance at scale, which is particularly valuable in regions with high youth unemployment and informal labour markets.
3. Assistive Technologies
The Scott-Morgan Foundation created an AI-powered solution for individuals with ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis), incorporating predictive AI, voice synthesis, and eye tracking. These technologies empower individuals with speech and mobility impairments to communicate effectively, preserving their autonomy and identity. This highlights how AI can enhance inclusion by meeting specific accessibility needs.
Why Mobile-First and Offline AI Matters
In many parts of the world, mobile phones are the primary—and sometimes only—gateway to digital services. As such, AI solutions must be optimised for mobile and capable of functioning offline.
Apps like Socratic provide AI-powered tutoring that helps students with limited access to teachers and educational resources. Duolingo offers language learning that can be adapted to offline use. Offline speech-to-text tools are now being used to help individuals with hearing impairments or limited literacy communicate more effectively.
Offline functionality and low-data design are critical in environments with unreliable internet. These approaches democratise access and make technology viable even in low-resource settings.
The Power of Public-Private Partnerships
No single entity can address the digital divide alone. Governments, businesses, civil society, and academia must work together to scale AI solutions for inclusion.
- Microsoft’s AI skilling initiative in South Africa is a powerful example of how corporations can invest in capacity building and workforce readiness.
Public-private partnerships help ensure that solutions are not only scalable but also sustainable. They also enable faster deployment of infrastructure and more tailored community engagement strategies.
What’s Next? The Future of Inclusive AI
Inclusive AI must be proactive, not reactive. Here are three priority areas for the future:
- Multilingual AI: To reach marginalised populations, AI models must be trained in under-represented languages. This ensures cultural and linguistic relevance, improving engagement and comprehension.
- Accessible Smart Technologies: Designing hardware and software with accessibility in mind makes it possible for people with disabilities to fully participate in society. Examples include screen readers, voice-activated commands, and AI-powered mobility devices.
- AI-Driven Economic Empowerment: AI can forecast job market trends, identify sectors of growth, and align training programmes with future labour demands. This can be particularly impactful for young people and entrepreneurs seeking to build future-ready skills.
A Call to Action
To build a more inclusive digital future, we must move from awareness to action:
- Governments must create enabling policies that promote digital inclusion and protect against algorithmic bias.
- Corporates should prioritize inclusive design, invest in digital literacy, and support localisation of AI tools.
- Communities must drive peer learning, co-creation of tools, and grassroots innovation.
- Funders and NGOs must allocate resources toward scalable, impact-driven inclusion projects—especially those led by local actors.
Digital inclusion is not a checkbox. It is a foundational requirement for human development in the 21st century.
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