UAE, Singapore lead global AI growth as Pakistan lags behind

DUBAI: The United Arab Emirates, Singapore, and Norway are among the countries taking the lead in the global adoption of artificial intelligence (AI), while Pakistan remains far behind, with only a small share of its population using AI tools in daily life.

The findings stem from Microsoft’s AI Economy Institute’s new AI Diffusion Report 2025, which assessed the spread of AI across 170 countries, measuring how deeply it is integrated into workplaces, education, and public services.

According to the study, more than half of the working-age population in the UAE and Singapore now use AI regularly — placing both nations at the top of the global ranking— while adoption in developing countries such as Pakistan remains below 15%. 

This means that most people in Pakistan have not yet begun using AI tools for work or learning.

Experts say this is largely because of limited internet access, digital skills, and availability of AI tools in local languages. The report points out that countries where people can use AI in their own language—such as English or Arabic—see faster adoption.

Among Muslim-majority nations, the UAE leads globally, followed by Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Qatar, and Indonesia. These countries are investing heavily in AI education, data centres, and government programmes.

The report also highlights Israel as one of the world’s top seven frontier nations—countries that build and train advanced AI models. Israel ranks seventh globally, following the United States, China, South Korea, France, the United Kingdom, and Canada.

While Pakistan is not yet among AI-producing countries, experts say it can still catch up by improving digital skills, internet connectivity, and education. The study explains that AI is like earlier great inventions such as electricity and the internet—its real impact depends not on invention alone, but on how widely people can use it.

The report calls for urgent action to close the AI gap between rich and poor nations so that all societies can benefit equally from the technology.