James A. Robinson, co-winner of the 2024 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences for his influential work on institutional development and prosperity, has issued a stark warning: the accelerating deployment of artificial intelligence (AI) risks greatly amplifying global and domestic inequality. He observes that AI is poised to bring major productivity gains, but overwhelmingly to countries and firms that already control data, infrastructure and capital.
Robinson argues that because AI investments are concentrated in wealthy nations and large corporations, the benefits will accrue to those who own the robots, algorithms and platforms — while ordinary workers and poorer countries will see little. He points out that the logic of many Western economies is “we’re going to use this technology to replace workers,” which he sees as a profound institutional shift with major social consequences.
Highlighting the link between economic inequality and weak institutions, Robinson views the current moment as a crisis of the liberal model of growth. He argues that the failure of institutions to distribute the gains from past technological and globalisation waves fuels the backlash against liberal democracy. AI, he believes, will accelerate this dynamic unless policy frameworks change significantly.
In his view, the solution lies in very aggressive policy interventions — not optional add-ons. He calls for governance, regulation, ownership models and labour markets to be rethought so that AI doesn’t just enrich the few. Without this, he warns, the next inequality shock could be even more destabilising than past ones.
