Preprint Article Version 1 Preserved in Portico This version is not peer-reviewed

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Poverty Reduction in the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR)

Version 1 : Received: 10 September 2020 / Approved: 16 September 2020 / Online: 16 September 2020 (11:31:39 CEST)

How to cite: Mhlanga, D. Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Poverty Reduction in the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR). Preprints 2020, 2020090362. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202009.0362.v1 Mhlanga, D. Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Poverty Reduction in the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR). Preprints 2020, 2020090362. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202009.0362.v1

Abstract

Though the share of the world population living in extreme poverty declined to 10 percent in 2015, from 16 percent in 2010 and 36 percent in 1990, data shows that the world is not on track in achieving the target of less than 3 percent of people living in extreme poverty by 2030. Hence the study sought to investigate the influence of AI on poverty reduction. Using content analysis one of the unobtrusive research techniques, the study found out that, the availability of relevant data is making AI be able to deliver value to humanity and AI has a strong influence on poverty in areas of relevant data collection through poverty maps, its ability to revolutionize agriculture, education, and the financial sector through digital financial inclusion. The study also discovered that many countries especially developing nations are not collecting as much data to identify the number of poor people and the regions where these people are located. However, the existence of AI is assisting to change this, or instance the study discovered that the research team at Stanford University is using satellite images to provide an alternative to map poverty, to identify the regions where poverty is more concentrated. Also, various robotics and AI programs such as Google and Stanford University’s Sustainability and Artificial Intelligence Lab, are coming forth with AI programs in agriculture which are doing a lot to improve farming, through the identification of diseases, prediction of crop yields, and location of areas prone to a scarcity among several other notable signs of progress in education. Therefore, the study recommends that governments, development institutions and other organizations that are striving to fight poverty to invest more in AI as well as adopting and scaling up its use as it presents benefits in the quest to ensure that poverty is reduced.

Keywords

Artificial intelligence; Fourth Industrial Revolution; Poverty

Subject

Social Sciences, Government

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