Rest of World urges the West to learn from AI optimism in the Global South

Rest of World columnist argues that Western fear of AI limits how institutions could use it, citing Stanford's 2025 AI Index, where 83% of respondents in China, 80% in Indonesia and 77% in Thailand said AI-powered products offer more benefits than drawbacks, versus 39% in the U.S. and 36% in the Netherlands.

The column points to Anghami's music platform, which uses AI to curate, tag and attribute creative work, as an example of pragmatic adoption.