The rise of artificial intelligence has the potential to accelerate progress on a range of global development goals. But a key challenge stands in the way: most AI models, and particularly large language models, or LLMs, are predominantly trained in just two languages: English and Mandarin. This excludes the vast majority of the world’s 7,000 languages.
This not only limits the accessibility of AI tools for billions of people but also risks perpetuating digital inequities, leaving marginalized communities out of the AI revolution. In response, a growing coalition of donors — including the Gates Foundation, and donors from Germany, the United Kingdom, and Canada — is working to ensure that AI models are trained on the languages spoken by most of the world. They call themselves the AI for Development Funders Collaborative.
They want to ensure that the 1.3 billion people across the African continent, where many languages are primarily spoken and not written, can benefit from the transformative potential of AI tools, from strengthening health care delivery to improving educational outcomes and expanding access to financial services.