Democratisation of Artificial Intelligence for the Benefit of Society and Humanity

Abstract

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has become one of the most influential technologies of the twentyfirst century, impacting economies, governance, industry, and daily life (Brynjolfsson & McAfee, 2017; Russell & Norvig, 2020). While AI has the potential to boost productivity, innovation, and quality of life, its development remains concentrated in a few advanced nations and large tech companies. This raises concerns about technological inequality, digital monopolies, and unequal access to AI benefits. The democratisation of AI aims to improve accessibility, affordability, transparency, and ethical governance. This paper reviews AI’s technological evolution, its sectorial applications in industry, education, healthcare, and governance, and the economic dominance of few large corporations (Manyika et al., 2022; World Economic Forum, 2023). It discusses challenges such as the high cost of training large models, infrastructure needs, including GPUs and data centres, energy consumption, and skilled manpower shortages. Effective democratisation must address both AI creators and users, operating at production and access levels. Using policy analysis and case studies, the paper explores global efforts and India’s emerging role in fostering inclusive AI governance (Government of India, 2024; NITI Aayog, 2020). The conclusion emphasises that democratising AI is vital for equitable progress, requiring coordinated action by governments, industry, and academia to ensure AI benefits all of society and humanity (UNESCO, 2022; United Nations, 2023).