The Great Divide: How Culture, Development, and Trust Shape Global AI

The latest data from the Global Public Opinion on Artificial Intelligence survey reveals a striking paradox at the heart of our technological age: those with the most to gain from artificial intelligence appear most enthusiastic about it, while those who already possess advanced technological infrastructure remain remarkably cautious. This divide transcends mere preference—it illuminates profound questions about opportunity, risk, and the fundamental nature of technological progress in an unequal world.

The Optimism of Opportunity

India leads the world with 43% of respondents expressing “very positive” views toward AI, followed by Kenya at 29% and Brazil at 27%. This enthusiasm extends across the developing world, where countries like Pakistan (26%), Mexico (24%), and Indonesia (20%) demonstrate significantly higher positivity rates than their developed counterparts. The pattern is unmistakable: emerging economies view AI not as a luxury to be regulated, but as a necessity to be embraced.visualcapitalist+1

This optimism stems from tangible, immediate benefits rather than abstract possibilities. In these markets, AI represents leapfrog technology—the opportunity to bypass legacy infrastructure and outdated systems in favor of cutting-edge solutions. Kenya’s AI-driven malaria detection systems in Malawi, Nigeria’s predictive pricing apps for market vendors, and India’s massive AI integration across 23% of businesses with 73% planning new deployments by 2025 demonstrate how AI addresses real-world challenges in ways that developed economies rarely experience.psmgt+2

The numbers tell a compelling story: India’s AI market is projected to reach $8 billion by 2025, growing at 40% annually, while Africa—despite accounting for only 1-1.5% of global AI investment—hosts over 2,400 AI startups. These aren’t vanity metrics; they represent societies actively reshaping their futures through technological adoption.psmgt

The Caution of Comfort

Meanwhile, in the world’s most advanced economies, AI sentiment tells a dramatically different story. Japan leads in neutrality with 44% of respondents expressing neither positive nor negative views, followed by Germany (40%) and Poland (40%). Perhaps more tellingly, the United States, France, and Australia report the highest levels of negative sentiment, with 34% of U.S. respondents holding either “fairly” or “very negative” views of AI.visualcapitalist

This cautious stance reflects what researchers term “pessimism paralysis”—a negative bias toward digital innovation that pervades wealthy societies. In developed economies, AI is often framed through the lens of displacement rather than empowerment, regulation rather than opportunity, and risk rather than reward. The conversation centers on protecting existing advantages rather than creating new ones.brookings+2

Recent research reveals that skepticism has actually increased in many Western countries. Between December 2024 and March 2025, feelings of skepticism about AI rose by 8 percentage points in the U.S., while excitement decreased by 5 percentage points. This growing wariness coincides with increased regulatory discussions, ethical debates, and media coverage of AI risks—creating a feedback loop of concern that may be disconnecting these populations from AI’s transformative potential.hai.stanford

The Trust Paradox

Perhaps most revealing is the stark difference in institutional trust. Three in five people in emerging economies trust AI systems, compared to only two in five in advanced economies. This isn’t merely about technology—it’s about faith in progress itself. In countries where traditional institutions have often failed to deliver basic services, AI represents hope for systemic improvement. In countries where institutions generally function well, AI represents a potential threat to established order.reuters+1

The trust divide extends to governance structures. People in emerging economies show higher confidence in industry and technology companies to develop AI in the public interest, while those in advanced economies express skepticism about both corporate and governmental AI oversight. This creates a fascinating inversion: those with the most regulatory capacity trust it least, while those with the least regulatory infrastructure trust it most.kpmg

Cultural Models and Technological Vision

Stanford research reveals that cultural frameworks fundamentally shape what people want from AI. European American cultural contexts emphasize individual control and hierarchical relationships with technology, viewing AI as a tool in service of personal goals. In contrast, Chinese cultural contexts are more open to AI with autonomous characteristics—systems that can act spontaneously and participate in social situations.hai.stanford

These cultural differences have profound implications for AI development. The prevailing Silicon Valley approach assumes universal desire for control over technology, but this assumption reflects specific cultural models rather than universal human preferences. When AI development is dominated by one cultural perspective, it risks creating systems that serve some populations well while failing others entirely.hai.stanford

The Development Imperative

The enthusiasm gap becomes even more significant when viewed through the lens of development potential. McKinsey estimates that generative AI could deliver $61-103 billion in additional value across Africa alone, particularly in finance and telecommunications. For countries grappling with healthcare access, educational shortfalls, and infrastructure gaps, AI offers solutions that developed economies don’t need.psmgt

Kenya’s Centre of Competence for Digital and Artificial Intelligence Skilling and Nigeria’s AI Scaling Hub represent strategic national investments in AI capabilities. These aren’t luxury projects—they’re survival strategies for countries that recognize technological adoption as essential for economic competitiveness and social development.csis

The OpenAI for Countries initiative, part of the $500 billion Stargate Project, acknowledges this reality by focusing on developing national AI ecosystems, providing AI in local languages and cultures, and building data center capacity specifically for emerging markets. Such initiatives recognize that AI adoption in the Global South isn’t just beneficial—it’s inevitable.csis

The Regulation Dilemma

The cultural and developmental divide creates complex challenges for global AI governance. At least 69 countries have proposed over 1,000 AI-related policy initiatives, but these frameworks overwhelmingly originate in wealthy nations. A review of nearly 500 AI policies found that two-thirds originated in the U.S., Europe, or China, while only 7% came from Latin America and Africa.mindfoundry+1

This regulatory imbalance means that AI development paths trace the interests of wealthy nations, potentially to the detriment of societies with different needs and priorities. While developed countries focus on preventing misuse—weaponization, disinformation, loss of human control—developing countries worry more about “missed use”: forgoing AI’s enormous potential in agriculture, health, and education.techpolicy

The recent shift toward deregulation in some advanced economies, exemplified by the Trump administration’s rollback of AI oversight measures, further complicates the global landscape. As governments compete for AI leadership, the tension between innovation and regulation becomes increasingly acute.techpolicy+1

Beyond the Binary

The Global South’s AI optimism challenges Western assumptions about technological progress and human-machine relationships. It suggests that skepticism about AI may be a luxury that only already-advantaged societies can afford. When your options are limited infrastructure or leapfrog technology, missing income opportunities or AI-enhanced productivity, analog inefficiency or digital transformation, the choice becomes clear.

This doesn’t mean emerging economies are naive about AI risks. Rather, they’re making calculated decisions that technological benefits outweigh potential drawbacks—especially when those drawbacks are largely theoretical while the benefits are immediately tangible.

The Future of Global AI

The survey data points toward a future where AI adoption follows development needs rather than regulatory preferences. As emerging economies continue embracing AI while developed nations remain cautious, we may see the emergence of distinct technological trajectories: one focused on rapid implementation and practical benefits, another emphasizing careful regulation and risk mitigation.

The challenge for global AI governance lies in bridging this divide. Effective international coordination requires understanding that different societies have different relationships with technological risk and opportunity. The Global Digital Compact and other international initiatives must recognize that one-size-fits-all approaches to AI governance may actually exacerbate global inequalities rather than address them.techpolicy

Implications for the AI Future

The enthusiasm gap revealed in this survey data suggests that the next phase of AI development may be driven not by the traditional tech centers of Silicon Valley or Beijing, but by the practical needs and cultural openness of emerging markets. Countries like India, Kenya, and Brazil aren’t just adopting AI—they’re reshaping it to serve different purposes and reflect different values.

For global AI companies, this means recognizing that the largest and most receptive markets may lie outside traditional technology hubs. For policymakers, it means understanding that effective AI governance must account for radically different risk-benefit calculations across different development contexts.

Most fundamentally, the survey reveals that attitudes toward AI reflect deeper questions about progress, opportunity, and trust in technological solutions. In a world where 80% of global growth now comes from the Global South , the enthusiasm of emerging economies toward AI may prove more predictive of technological futures than the caution of developed ones.jouvenot

The great AI divide isn’t just about technology—it’s about hope versus fear, opportunity versus risk, and the fundamental question of whether artificial intelligence represents humanity’s greatest tool for addressing global challenges or its greatest threat to existing advantages. The answer, it seems, depends largely on where you stand in the world’s development hierarchy.

As we navigate this divide, the data suggests that the future of AI may be written not in the boardrooms of established tech companies, but in the aspirations of societies for whom artificial intelligence represents not just technological progress, but the possibility of transformative change itself.

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The Great Divide: How Culture, Development, and Trust Shape Global AI Acceptance