Artificial intelligence, one of the most defining inventions of our time, has the potential to accelerate development, particularly in areas such as health, education, public services and governance. Like electricity and the internet before it, AI is already transforming lives everywhere.

For millions of girls and young women, though, AI is not just a story about innovation, but also about opportunity: who gets to participate, who gets left behind, and who gets to shape the future.

As the world marks the International Girls in ICT Day 2026 on Thursday, under the theme "AI for Development: Girls shaping the digital future", it is pertinent to ask whether the next wave of technological transformation will expand opportunities for young women or deepen the barriers they already face.

Indeed, unless carefully managed, AI has the potential to exacerbate inequalities both within and between nations, especially in Asia and the Pacific, a region where about 200 million people live in extreme poverty, and 1.3 billion informal workers have few social protection measures. With only 14 percent of people in the region using AI, as many as 3.7 billion people may be left behind.

As they often sit at the intersection of multiple divides — gender, age, income and geography — women are more likely to be employed in positions that are vulnerable to automation. Already, many women work in clerical and administrative capacities, which are statistically twice as likely to be replaced by AI technologies. At the same time, globally, less than a quarter of AI professionals are women.

Second, millions of women still lack the tools needed to use AI productively. In South Asia, they are about 40 percent less likely to own a smartphone. Without access to a device, AI cannot support learning, livelihoods, entrepreneurship, or access to public services.

For girls and young women trying to study or enter the workforce, digital exclusion can quickly become economic exclusion.

Third, AI models for credit scoring, recruiting, and other vital tasks are trained on male-dominated data. Systems that seldom see women, frequently misclassify them as "high risk", denying them access to finance, or jobs.

The risks facing women and girls are part of a broader set of divides that AI could deepen across societies and economies.

For example, AI divides along generational lines are also growing. In the most exposed sectors, jobs held by 22 to 25-year-olds have fallen by 6 percent since 2022.

AI also carries a high ecological cost. Its electricity consumption is expected to more than double by 2030.

As excessive heat is created, data centers rely on water cooling, which is estimated to use around 1.7 billion litres of water per day by 2030.

Fossil-fuel-based economies hosting energy-intensive "data farms" for global AI could pay a high price — in emissions, energy use and resource strain — with relatively lower returns.

These capability and vulnerability gaps — between genders, generations and nations — are creating a world in which AI will benefit well-prepared people and places, while those least able to adapt are hit hardest.

UNDP's recent regional report on "The Next Great Divergence" explains how governments can avoid this, by urgently expanding digital access, literacy and safeguards.

First, enable universal access and connectivity by closing smartphone ownership gaps among women and rural users.

Countries can also widen access by developing AI enablers — such as computer infrastructure, data and models — as regional public goods. By pooling resources and sharing capabilities, ASEAN nations can lean less on global tech companies — for example, by building their own ASEAN AI research cloud, along with regulatory frameworks. Another platform seeking to bridge gaps is APEC, which has called for greater AI cooperation in free trade and digital agreements, along with consistent AI regulations and policies.

As APEC Chair in 2026, China is also urging countries to collaborate on frontier technologies and expand digital public services.

Second, countries can level the playing field and prevent algorithmic harm by enforcing "equity by design". In particular, AI systems in critical areas such as credit and hiring should be tested for gender bias, while requiring representative datasets.

Third, governments need to empower people to use AI more effectively. This means providing skills education to vulnerable groups including women from an early age. This will allow them to ultimately use AI to enhance their future livelihoods.

With fewer than 20 percent of rural Asia-Pacific residents capable of simple digital tasks, it is not enough to simply deploy new systems and hardware: countries must invest in education across computer and data sciences, and embed AI literacy across society.

In China, UNDP has worked with NGOs and United Nations Volunteers through its HER Digital Future bootcamp since 2023, enabling more than 5,000 girls in rural areas to gain hands-on exposure to emerging technologies, including AI, and apply these skills to solve local challenges such as waste management and other everyday development issues.

In addressing AI challenges, countries will not move at the same pace, nor should they. Policy steps of individual countries depend on their various starting points. UNDP proposes different AI roadmaps, based on national capacities and sectors, for realistic progress on AI ambitions.

Lower-capacity contexts should expand basic connectivity, as well as offline-capable AI. For instance, in healthcare triage or agricultural support, bringing value where broadband is limited.

Transitional-capacity economies can grow proven pilots, develop civic data infrastructure, as well as build privacy and governance frameworks.

Higher-capacity countries have an opportunity to lead standards, safety, and sustainability efforts. They can enhance regulatory oversight, advocate for energy-efficient AI research, and share expertise through regional cooperation.

These tiered strategies can help countries build on foundations that they can sustain, with technologies that match their national and institutional realities. Ensuring this could boost regional growth by 2 percent in the future.

But the more important question is who that progress serves.

The decisions made today about AI access, skills and safeguards will determine whether this technology becomes a ladder to opportunity or another barrier for girls and young women to overcome.

Ultimately, the measure of AI's success will not be the sophistication of the technology itself, but whether it helps to truly expand the capabilities of everyone, including those who are often left behind by technological change.

The author is UNDP resident representative ad interim for China.

The views don't necessarily represent those of China Daily.

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