By Andrea Shalal
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Countries around the world lack the regulatory and ethical foundation to deal with the rapid advent of artificial intelligence, IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva said on Monday, urging civil society groups to "ring the alarm bells."
Georgieva said the rapidly advancing technological revolution unleashed by AI was dominated by advanced economies, with the U.S. having the lion's share. Some emerging markets also had capability in the sector, including China, but developing
countries were lagging far behind and less able to tap into the potential of the technological revolution.
Speaking with civil society groups on the first day of the annual IMF and World Bank meetings, Georgieva said the IMF was "quite worried" that the gap between advanced economies and low-income countries on readiness for AI was growing and making it harder and harder for developing countries to catch up.
Georgieva's comments came days after she warned that financial market valuations were heading toward levels last seen during the internet-related bullishness 25 years ago, based on AI hopes, but an abrupt shift in sentiment could drag down world growth, making life especially tough for developing countries.
She said the IMF was urging developing countries and emerging markets to focus on the first prerequisite for success, which was expanding digital infrastructure and skills.
She said the IMF had developed an AI preparedness index that assessed countries' readiness for the new technology in four areas - infrastructure, labor and skills, innovation, and regulation and ethics.
"Where the world is falling shortest is on regulation and ethics," she said. "The regulatory ethical foundation for AI for our future is still to come into place."
She urged civil society groups to "ring the alarm bells in your countries that staying still is falling behind."
(Reporting by Andrea Shalal; Editing by Mark Porter and Andrea Ricci)
