Blog: AI and Prosperity - a journey beyond technology and wealth

Understanding AI: More Than Just Algorithm

When you hear artificial intelligence’, what springs to mind? Perhaps ChatGPT answering your questions, Netflix suggesting your next film, or Google Maps navigating your route to office. But AI is more than just clever technology. Beneath the glossy surface of smart apps and seamless interfaces lies a complex human story.

AI doesn’t exist in isolation. It’s built by people, trained on our data, influenced by our biases, and shaped by our values. As Kate Crawford points out in her book ’Atlas of AI’, behind every algorithm lies hidden labour - workers labelling data, minerals mined from fragile ecosystems, and power dynamics that reflect and reinforce existing inequalities.

Take the simple example of online shopping: personalised ads feel convenient, but they are also part of a broader system that commodifies personal data, sometimes eroding privacy and autonomy. AI isn’t inherently neutral - it is a reflection of the world we live in, with all its strengths, contradictions, and complexities.

Rethinking Prosperity: Beyond GDP

For too long, we've measured prosperity in purely economic terms: GDP, stock prices, and income levels. But as Robert Kennedy famously said, GDP measures, “(E)verything except that which is worthwhile.” True prosperity is about more than numbers on a spreadsheet. It’s about living well together, in harmony with each other and the planet. It means having secure jobs, access to quality public services, and a healthy environment.

The Institute for Global Prosperity (IGP) champions this holistic understanding. Through direct engagement with diverse communities - from East London to Kenya to Lebanon -IGP explores how prosperity varies dramatically according to unique histories, cultures, and circumstances. Prosperity isn’t universal or static; it’s dynamic and deeply rooted in the values and aspirations of each community. We know AI is a powerful driver of economic growth and productivity. But can AI also reflect and support a richer view of prosperity more in harmony with humanity and nature?

AI and Prosperity: Conflict or Convergence?

The relationship between AI and prosperity is multifaceted, offering both significant challenges and promising opportunities. At its core, much of AI today is built on principles of extraction and accumulation. Data, often personal and collective, is commodified, stripped from its original context, and used to generate profit. This process consolidates power and wealth in the hands of a few corporations that control vast data resources, leaving individuals and communities with little say over how their information is used. Even more troubling is the rise of ‘dataism’, the belief that data-driven decisions represent objective truths. This mindset prioritises what can be measured and quantified, often at the expense of other forms of knowledge like cultural practices, traditions and local knowledge. That can reduce complex social issues to technical problems - ignoring power imbalances and human dignity. 

On the other hand, just as prosperity means different things to different communities, AI can take on diverse forms and serve a variety of purposes. While the dominant Silicon Valley ethos of ‘move fast and break things’ has often prioritized speed and profit over inclusivity or safety, a growing shift toward interdisciplinary and participatory approaches is opening new possibilities for AI development. Frameworks such as value-sensitive design, intersectional design, and indigenous data sovereignty are increasingly being embedded in AI development. These approaches invite us to ask deeper questions about power, agency, and who truly benefits from AI. They prioritize collaboration with communities, ensuring that AI systems reflect local values, needs and priorities.

Toward an AI-Prosperity Alignment

AI and prosperity are not isolated ideas or narratives, they are intertwined and shape one another. In the next blog, I will delve deeper into the framework of AI-Prosperity Alignment to illustrate how we can reposition AI as a tool for emancipation, sustainability, and multivocality - one that amplifies diverse voices rather than silencing them. 

That desired alignment won’t happen automatically, it demands deliberate efforts to challenge the assumptions underlying AI’s development, prioritising governance frameworks and collaborative models that empower, rather than exclude. The future we want depends on our willingness to shape AI not merely for a tool for efficiency, but as a partner technology that we can use to create meaningful, thriving societies. 

Dr. Putthiphan Hirunyatrakul is a longstanding member of the IGP community, having completed his MSc in 2019 and his PhD in 2025 and his work focuses on the nexus between AI and prosperity. See Putthiphan’s profile on LinkedIn.

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