Artificial intelligence has the potential to become a major force for reducing inequality by giving individuals and smaller organizations access to capabilities that were previously available mainly to large companies and highly skilled professionals. The report notes that AI is already improving performance in areas such as coding, writing, translation and data analysis, with survey evidence showing productivity improvements of around 50% in many tasks. As AI agents begin automating entire functions, these gains could become larger and allow smaller teams to compete with resource-rich organizations.
AI could also expand opportunity by democratizing expertise and lowering barriers to entrepreneurship. Someone with limited writing or technical skills can use AI to produce professional-quality work or complete complex tasks through natural-language instructions. This could shift entrepreneurship from being primarily constrained by access to capital toward being constrained more by creativity and execution. The report argues that this expansion of individual capabilities may ultimately have a greater equalizing effect than productivity growth alone.
However, the transition could initially make inequality worse rather than better. The early gains from AI are concentrated among leading companies, countries and capital owners, while workers may become more productive without gaining equivalent bargaining power or wages. Entry-level workers face particular risks because AI can automate many tasks traditionally used to build early-career experience. The report also highlights a major geographic divide: around a quarter of the global population still lacks reliable internet access, meaning many people may not even have access to the AI tools driving the transformation.
Ultimately, AI could become an equaliser, but technology alone will not determine the outcome. Regulation, access to AI, the balance between open and closed models, worker retraining and the way economic gains are distributed will all matter. If AI makes expertise, entrepreneurship and high-quality tools accessible to a much broader population, it could eventually level the playing field; but history suggests that the benefits of major technological shifts often reach society unevenly and only after years or decades.
