Bridging the Digital Divide

AI Readiness in Pakistan

In a world moving at lightning speed, humankind has witnessed a transformational change in its every sphere of life through AI. It has become crucial to the extent that researchers position AI as a paramount tool in today’s modern era in achieving numerous sustainable development goals. We see its integration broadly evident across diverse sectors, spanning automotive to healthcare and from banking to education.

In a similar manner, advancement in digital health is also on the steep rise as various estimates suggest that it was worth around $505.4 billion by the end of 2025. Thus, today, in global landscape, countthe ries like the USA, China, and the UK reign supreme in AI healthcare and have invested extensively by forming a substantial number of AI-based companies over the last decade.

However, World Bank–defined low-income countries (Gross National Income less than $1,145, (2024–2025) lag significantly behind in AI. According to 2022 AI readiness rankings by Oxford insights, the majority of the state authorities in low-income settings are evaluated at bottom, which demonstratae their least preparedness for AI adoption. While on the other hand over 60 countries, more than 70 percent among them developed, have published national-level AI policies in the last five years. This notable imbalance is liable to exacerbate socio-economic disparities in various forms between high income and low-income countries. 

As a result, researchers from low-income countries have an inadequate representation in the global AI discourse that takes place in the developed landscape. This indifference has a potential to cause disparity in labour productivity, declining digital literacy, undermining governance efficiency, eroding energy infrastructure and furthering economical constraints in resource constrained settings. 

Pakistan is also one of the low-income countries, which is imperiled with a myriad of challenges to have robust infrastructure to thoroughly leverage AI. The challenge of accessing high-speed internet still looms large while two-thirds of its population is bereft of smartphones. The nationwide last Pakistan Demographic and Health Survey 2017-2018 highlights that 22.9 percent of urban households had an internet connection compared to 4.9 percent in rural areas. Further, it is imperative to note that the effectiveness of any digital health intervention is strongly associated with internet accessibility. However, this stark digital divide poses a serious impediment and restricts the equitable reach in underserved communities of today’s Pakistan. 

In addition, the adoption of AI in healthcare isn’t easy, as it is entangled with multifaceted challenges, from the absence of robust electronic health record systems to socio-cultural resistance. These constraints are intensified by systemic gaps, as according to Lancet, the Healthcare Access and Quality (HAQ) index, measuring health system performance of Pakistan in 2019 was 32.4 percent. The low score reveals shortcomings in service delivery, driven by fragile health information systems and an inadequate professional workforce, which together hamper the effective application of administrative and clinical AI.

The concerns regarding AI applicability are not only limited to this, but also in our country, cyber security remains largely unregulated, and the technology used for data collection lacks enough safeguards which always raises the concerns about data safety. Thus, what seems crucial today, is the need at the national scale to form ethical frameworks and mandatory identification of regulatory consents prior to implementing or scaling up any AI policy on a national level. 

Pakistan must establish systems that can equally cater reliable internet facilities in underserved areas, and have strong data protection laws. Without oversight and keen regulation of AI, it can cause workforce displacement, disseminate false information and cause privacy violations. However, with thoughtful leadership and involvement of public discourse, it can assure sustainable development and strengthen democratic institutions.

It is unambiguous that there has been a monumental investment by the developed countries in developing digital health ecosystems, for instance, the European Union has established broad frameworks for AI in the healthcare sector with the inclusion of comprehensive guidelines for data sharing and ethics. While, we still face a dearth of skilled human resources having adequate technology-specific skills, let alone develop such frameworks for AI adoption. Thus, it is imperative on the relevant authority’s part, that AI literacy must be prioritized across all strata of our society. 

In this context, engagement in public private partnership can also have a pivotal role to facilitate the integration and formalization of AI. From establishing a potent digital infrastructure in downtrodden segments to prevailing awareness campaigns about the potential benefits of AI can have lasting impact in our society. 

Pakistan must establish systems that can equally cater reliable internet facilities in underserved areas, and have strong data protection laws. Without oversight and keen regulation of AI, it can cause workforce displacement, disseminate false information and cause privacy violations. However, with thoughtful leadership and involvement of public discourse, it can assure sustainable development and strengthen democratic institutions.