How Will AI Affect Developing Countries?

In Development Editorial Team

In Development and Asterisk are running an essay contest on how transformative AI will affect low- and middle-income countries.

AI is a transformative technology. To date, though, there has been relatively little exploration of what advanced AI will mean for developing countries.

In Development and Asterisk are running an essay contest on how transformative AI will affect low- and middle-income countries, and how they might respond. Essays may focus on a particular country, region, or group of countries, and should be between 2,000 and 5,000 words. We are particularly keen to see submissions from authors based in low- and middle-income countries.

Please feel free to submit on the relevant topic of your choice. Potential topics could include, but are certainly not limited to:

  • How will AI drive convergence or divergence between rich countries and developing countries?
  • What will be the labor market impacts of AI in a particular country? Which sectors will expand and which will contract?
  • How will AI change the political economy of the developing world?
  • How will governments likely use AI, for good or ill?
  • What policies are needed for low- and middle-income country governments to prepare for a transformative AI scenario? What capabilities would be needed to enact and maintain these policies?
  • How will AI affect conflict in low- and middle-income countries?
  • What are the primary barriers to the diffusion of AI-based health technologies and how can these barriers be reduced?
  • How do people in low- and middle-income countries currently view the relative benefits and risks of AI?
  • How might AI interact with the social fabric of low- and middle-income countries in ways that are underreported and/or differ from what we would see in the Global North?
  • Where should philanthropic funding from AI companies and employees go to accelerate development? Are there particularly promising AI-specific opportunities?

Some responses to transformative AI may already be sensible development policies. Essays discussing these policies should explain how AI changes their importance, urgency, or design.

We’re looking for essays that are deeply researched and contain original analysis. Reporting is encouraged but not necessary. All selected essays will be fact-checked and edited before publication.

Some of our favorite essays on these topics include Tomorrow’s AI Won’t Meet Today’s World by Oliver Hanney and Oliver Kim, The Staggering Welfare Consequences of Catch-up Growth After AI by Rafael Proença, Boarding China’s Last Bus by Zilan Qian, and AI Could Keep Countries Poor by Deena Mousa. Some of these were written by members of our judging panel or published in Asterisk; we include them to illustrate the kind of work we’re looking for, not the conclusions we expect.

Prizes:

Winner (1): $10,000 per essay + publication in both Asterisk (print and online) and In Development

Runner-Ups (2): $5,000 per essay + publication in both Asterisk (online) and In Development

Honorable Mentions (2): $2,000 per essay

Separately, the African Tech Futures Lab offers $2,500 for the best essay by an African national. This reflects their aim that Africans help define the future of the technology. This prize can be combined with the above prizes; thus, if the overall winner is an African national, they would receive $12,500.

AI policy:

You can use AI to research, to translate an essay written in a language other than English, and for feedback on your essay. However, we do not accept submissions that include AI-generated content beyond translation.

Rules and submissions:

  • Essays should be in English.
  • Pieces can be co-authored.
  • Each person may appear on only one entry, whether as a sole author or a co-author.
  • Entries must be previously unpublished (including on personal blogs or newsletters).

To submit: please fill out this form. Submissions close December 31, 2026 11:59 PM Anywhere on Earth.

If you have additional questions, please email essaycontest@indevelopmentmag.com.

The contest will be judged by:

Clara Collier

Clara Collier is the editor in chief of Asterisk Magazine, “the little magazine of the San Francisco Bay Area”. She holds an MA from Oxford University and a BA from Yale University.

Lauren Gilbert

Lauren Gilbert is the editor in chief of In Development and a non-resident fellow at the Centre for British Progress and the Energy for Growth Hub. Her writing has appeared in The Economist, Foreign Policy, The Washington Post, Works in Progress, and Asterisk. She previously worked as a program manager at Renaissance Philanthropy, a research fellow at Open Philanthropy, and a theoretical neutrino astrophysicist.

Oliver Hanney

Oliver Hanney is a contributing editor at In Development and the Managing Editor at VoxDev, a platform which features the latest research in development economics through articles, blogs, podcasts, videos, and living literature reviews (VoxDevLits). He hosts the weekly Ideas in Development podcast, and is particularly interested in AI, growth, and how research shapes policy.

Shahrukh Wani

Shahrukh Wani is Head of AI Policy Partnerships at the International Growth Centre (IGC) at the LSE, where he leads work to help LMIC governments use AI in policymaking and public services. Over the past decade, he has worked with governments in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Uganda, Rwanda, Ethiopia and Zambia on policy reforms. Born and raised in Pakistan, he now lives in London.

Deena Mousa

Deena Mousa is a Program Officer at Coefficient Giving, where she leads its work on AI for global health and economic development. She also writes for outlets like The Economist, National Geographic, and Scientific American, and authors Under Development, a newsletter on emerging technology and global development. She holds a BA in Ethics, Politics, and Economics from Yale.

Joseph Levine

Joseph Levine is a development economist researching the societal impacts of transformative AI at Google DeepMind. He is also completing his DPhil in the economics department at the University of Oxford, focusing on public and welfare economics. Before starting his PhD, he consulted on technology policy and financing in the space industry.

Rose Mutiso

Rose M. Mutiso is the Founder and Executive Director of the African Tech Futures Lab. She is also the co-founder and former CEO of the Mawazo (“Ideas”) Institute. Previously, she served as the Research Director of the Energy for Growth Hub, and as a Senior Fellow focused on energy and innovation policy in the U.S. Department of Energy and U.S. Senate. She currently holds joint appointments as Science Advisor to the Energy for Growth Hub and Senior Fellow of the Conceptual Investigations Unit at Stanford University.

Rafael Cariello

Rafael Cariello is the managing editor of In Development. He has worked as a reporter and editor for Folha de S.Paulo, Brazil’s largest newspaper, and for piauí, its leading long-form magazine. Rafael holds a BA in History and a PhD in Economics from the University of São Paulo. Born in Rio, he is based in São Paulo.

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