By improving their operations and changing the nature of employment, artificial intelligence is revolutionizing a wide range of industries, including manufacturing, healthcare, and finance. Smarter fleet management and logistics, improved energy forecasting, more effective use of hospital beds through patient data analysis and predictive modeling, enhanced quality control in advanced manufacturing, and customized customer experiences are all made possible by AI. Governments are also adopting it because they believe it may provide citizens with better services at a lower cost to taxpayers.
The amount of money invested in AI by the private sector worldwide has increased by 18 times since 2013. AI can potentially be a major facilitator of public services and a tremendous engine of economic progress. AI platforms can spread misinformation, threaten personal rights, compromise data security, perpetuate biases, disrupt the financial system, and cause global chaos. The use of AI to accomplish the Sustainable Development Goals and address global issues is the primary focus of the AI for the Global Development Goals course. The Oxford Training Center created this course, which delves deeper into the role that artificial intelligence plays.
Regional variations and emerging markets
New AI governance models and tactics have surfaced in the public and private sectors as a result of this growing unity, providing useful templates for other organizations to adopt. The European Commission’s AI governance initiatives, for instance, provide models that businesses can use as a guide to prevent having to start from scratch. Prominent international IT firms are increasingly setting the standard with their openly accessible standards and values. Despite the growing acceptance of ethical values, consider regional AI laws when adapting organizational frameworks.
1. Contribution of Africa
Africa has a huge opportunity to transform from an AI consumer to an AI developer in the upcoming years, putting it in a position to significantly influence the direction of artificial intelligence (AI). Africa is likely to see only a small piece of the $15.7 trillion artificial intelligence projected to add to the global economy by 2030. When Africa’s population is expected to be one in four of the global population by 2050, the previous disparity is much worse on a per capita level. Participants at the event recognized disparities and emphasized the importance of inclusive AI governance for African communities.
Action and accountability on AI
Forty nations have come together under the Smart Africa Alliance to use ICT to advance sustainable development. It is putting the continent in a position to influence the global digital economy rather than merely participate in it. At the Kigali meeting, the Rwandan government and the Gates Foundation decided to establish Africa’s first AI scaling hub, marking yet another significant turning point in this path. C4IR Rwanda hosts a program led by Rwanda’s Ministry of ICT and Innovation, backed by $7.5 million for three years to enhance AI solutions in healthcare, agriculture, and education.
2. Contribution of Canada
The first nation in the world to adopt a national AI policy was Canada in 2017. Following Canada’s example, numerous nations have created their own. The Pan-Canadian AI Strategy is the name of Canada’s AI policy. The Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR) is in charge of it. The plan aids in giving AI in Canada a course and objectives. This covers the applications of AI in the fields of healthcare, the environment, and other fields. Activities at Canada’s three National AI Institutes are likewise guided by the approach.
Numerous Canadian colleges and universities offer AI-related certificates, bachelor’s, master’s, and PhD programs. The list is also becoming longer. Researchers from many post-secondary institutions are also partners with Amii, Mila, and the Vector Institute. Several Canadian universities include UBC, UAlberta, McGill, UofT, UWaterloo, UGuelph, Western, Ottawa, Dalhousie, and UBC.
3. UK contribution
In 2025, the UK will lead in AI adoption and innovation with rapid growth, ethics, and economic impact. The UK AI industry is projected to experience over six years a robust CAGR of 26.33% until 2031 and is expected to reach over US$7.68 billion in 2025, with its potential to grow to over US$31 billion by then. The UK has the largest AI market in Europe and the third largest in the world, behind the US and China, on track to be worth $92 billion (£72.3 billion) in 2024. The AI industry has approximately 60,000 employees in more than 3,700 AI businesses and creates approximately £3.7 billion in economic value for the UK. Government programs want to use AI to increase productivity by up to 1.5% annually, which may contribute £47 billion to the economy annually.
- AI adoption and usage
Adoption rates vary by company size in the UK, with around one in six organizations using AI: 68% of large corporations, 33% of medium-sized businesses, and 15% of small businesses utilize AI. AI usage is highest in the IT and telecommunications sector (29.5%), followed by the legal sector (29.2%), with the retail, hospitality, and health sectors trailing behind at roughly 11.5%. Common uses of AI include computer vision (5%), machine learning (7%), natural language processing and creation (8%), data management and analysis (9%), and AI hardware (5%). AI is widely employed in professional settings, as seen by the 79% of UK professionals questioned who had used generative AI technologies like ChatGPT in their work.
- Technological and ethical trends
The United Kingdom, as a pioneer in ethical AI development, has published guidance on best AI practices that emphasizes a mindset of rights, privacy, transparency, and reducing bias from the outset. There is now a greater demand for AI systems that can explain the decision-making processes of AI systems, both concerning the customer and the organization; thus, explainable AI (XAI) is fast becoming a trend. AI has also increasingly served to address issues of sustainability pollution reduction, climate change, and energy usage. There is a tremendous intersection of AI with other technologies, which are all producing increasingly systemic and entangled outcomes.
- US contribution
In the last decade, the US has raised around $470 billion in AI investment from private funds, which is more than the total amounts raised by China, the UK, and Canada combined. The US AI market is estimated to reach close to $300 billion by 2026, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of almost 40.2% from 2021 to 2028 showing strong confidence and fast expansion. To eliminate impediments to innovation, the new US presidential administration rescinded a handful of previous presidential orders on AI, relying on these goals in early 2025. At the same time, new regulations were put into place to preserve American leadership in AI through objective and socially conscious AI development. The Stargate Project showcases robust public-private collaboration by pledging $500 billion over four years for state-of-the-art AI infrastructure, such as AI-focused data centers nationwide.
5. Contribution of the European Union
The Artificial Intelligence Act, the world’s first comprehensive legislative framework for AI, has been legislated and came into effect by the European Union (EU), a notable development for global AI policy. The AI Act, effective from August 1, 2024, sets out comprehensive, risk-based regulations for many of the ways AI systems can be used in all 27 member states of the EU to advance dependable, human-centric AI that ensures safety and fundamental rights.
- A global regulatory benchmark
According to risk levels, the AI Act classifies AI systems, prohibits undesirable uses of AI (like social scoring and police profiling), and places stringent requirements on high-risk AI applications (like employment and law enforcement). This risk-based approach sets a precedent for global alignment and balances innovation with protecting human rights.
- The European Artificial Intelligence Office
To aid in the execution and enforcement of the AI Act, the European Union established the European AI Office as a central repository of AI knowledge. The Office checks compliance, creates tools for evaluating AI models, promotes reliable AI ecosystems throughout Europe, and supervises the cogent application of the AI Act. Additionally, it promotes worldwide collaboration and positions the EU as a leader in AI governance.
- AI strategy and innovation support
By increasing research, industrial capacity, and AI use in critical areas like healthcare, education, and the environment, the EU hopes to establish Europe as a worldwide AI hub. Its AI policy places a strong emphasis on both excellence and trust. To encourage private investment and assist startups and SMEs in creating reliable AI, initiatives include the AI Innovation Package, AI Factories, the AI Skills Academy, and the InvestAI Facility. By encouraging extensive AI infrastructure and developing AI talent and capabilities throughout the EU, the 2025 AI Continent Action Plan furthers these objectives.
In 2025, countries worldwide are passing AI legislation to mitigate risks in critical sectors such as healthcare, borrowing, banking, and the hiring of workers. The risk-based framework legislation aims to guide and ensure the safety, transparency, and accountability of AI systems as they evolve, also motivated by laws such as the EU AI Act. Governments are acting quickly to maintain their technological advantage by creating new laws and investing billions in AI infrastructure and research.