SHS Web of Conferences 152, 05004 (2023) https://doi.org/10.

1051/shsconf/202315205004
SSCHD2022

AI Widens the Gap between the Rich and the

Poor
Runqing Qiu 1,* and Zhanhong Liu2
1
Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong, China
2
University of Jinan, Jinan, China

Abstract. Since entering the 21st century, high technology has developed
at a rapid pace. The development of high technology has changed the
methods of production and lifestyle of human beings. While enjoying the
efficiency, comfort, and convenience brought by high technologies, people
find that the gap between the rich and the poor has been widening. More
and more attentions have been paid to the influences on the gap between
the rich and the poor arising from the development of high technologies,
especially from the development of artificial intelligence (AI) technology.
This paper focuses on this social phenomenon and demonstrates that the
development of AI will widen the gap between the rich and the poor. The
paper will proceed with the discussion from three levels of human actives:
individual, company, and country.

1 Introduction
Artificial intelligence (AI) is a new technological science that studies and develops theories,
methods, technologies and application systems used to simulate, extend and expand human
intelligence. Human beings are currently in the era of weak artificial intelligence.
According to the China Artificial Intelligence Development Report 2019, the output value
of the core industry of artificial intelligence is expected to reach more than $160 billion in
2020 (Figure 1).

Fig. 1. Output value of artificial intelligence core industries in China (2019)

*
Corresponding autor.. Email: [email protected]

© The Authors, published by EDP Sciences. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons
Attribution License 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
SHS Web of Conferences 152, 05004 (2023) https://doi.org/10.1051/shsconf/202315205004
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The core industries of artificial intelligence mainly include service fields, medical fields,
business fields, and education fields, providing alternative products and services in
computer vision (such as industrial inspection, medical image analysis and unpiloted
driving), medical diagnosis, voice recognition, service robots, and precision marketing.
(Figure 2).

Fig. 2. Main products and services provided by artificial intelligence

In this paper, the poor group refers to people who only master low-level skills,
companies that use low-level technology, some backward countries and developing
countries. In contrast, the rich group refers to high-level talents who master AI technology,
companies that use AI technology, and developed country with core AI technologies.
According to the statistics provided by the United Nations Development Program in 2019,
the wealth of the wealthiest 1% of the population in various countries accounts for more
than 20% of the total wealth of society. Among them, the data is 39% in the United States
and 30% in China. In China, 10% of the population holds 67% of the wealth. The data
indicate that, at present, the wealth gap between the rich and the poor is large, and a few
people hold the majority of the wealth.

2 AI affects the life of human

The products and services provided by artificial intelligence mainly change the methods of
production and life of human beings in two aspects: assisting human beings and replacing
artificial ones. While artificial intelligence is changing people's production and lifestyles, it
will inevitably turn some people into a "useless class" due to its substitution for humans.

2.1 AI is causing massive unemployment

According to the prediction of the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, due to the development of
artificial intelligence in the next ten years, people engaged in occupations such as cashiers,
bank tellers, postal staff, assemblers, and administrative assistants will face elimination.
Yang (2020) illustrates that from the data published by BCG Ali Research Institute, within
the next 5 years, 7.1 million jobs will disappear due to the popularity of AI. 702
occupations and 47% of jobs may be replaced by artificial intelligence [1]. While
technological progress promotes employment growth, it will "also harm full employment,
leading to a dilemma in macroeconomic policies" (Yang, 2020) [1].
Nowadays, the fields in which human beings are traditionally thought hard to be
replaced have also been changing. Harari (2018) compares the situation of the "useless
class" to the carriage drivers who switched to taxi drivers in the 19th century when cars

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replaced carriages. He demonstrates that switching from low-skilled jobs to slightly

high-skilled jobs does not require much learning, and only short-term training is needed to
meet the job requirements [2].
However, in the era of artificial intelligence, the threshold for changing careers has
increased. The unemployed are predicted to be more miserable than coachmen/carriage
drivers. Their low level of knowledge and lack of learning skills determines that it is
difficult for them to engage in jobs provided by artificial intelligence applications. In the
future, the industry will change, and the speed of information refresh will become faster
and faster. The "useless class" will face not being exploited and not being needed, which is
equivalent to facing unemployment.

2.2 AI Makes wealth more concentrated

On another aspect, various services and products provided by AI for humanity have brought
specific jobs and made brilliant careers for big data architects and data scientists, enabling
these people great opportunities to leap to the rich class. Capitalists also gain opportunities
for future development through capital operation and investment in the fields of artificial
intelligence and enjoy their success. This process shows a phenomenon that rich person
become richer and the poor person become poorer.
The Derwent World Patents Index (DWPI) analysis the public data of patentees in the
area of AI research, it indicates that large companies such as IBM and Microsoft have filed
a large number of patent applications in the field of artificial intelligence, as shown in
Figure 3.

Fig. 3. Global top 10 artificial intelligence patentees

The nature of the research in Artificial intelligence makes wealth more concentrated. On
the one hand, investment in artificial intelligence research and development is very high.
Only large companies have the economic strength to invest in artificial intelligence.
Therefore, capital has become the economic foundation for the development of artificial
intelligence; On the other hand, in the future, the patent rights obtained by large companies
will surely bring more long-term benefits to these companies.
For example, in the financial industry, AI affects the operation of the entire industry. On
the one hand, banks are committed to improving their information technology application
capabilities, expanding the scope of their main business, and obtaining more significant
benefits. Bank capital holders will become richer. On the other hand, banks use AI
technology to build new automated and intelligent outlets. According to statistics, from
October 2018 to July 2019, the total number of outlets of the 6 state-owned banks in
Mainland China decreased by more than 500, showing a clear contraction trend (Figure 4)
[3].

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It can be seen that intelligent banking services have led to a substantial increase in the
unemployment rate of front desk staff, therefore increasing the number of poor people.

Fig. 4. Changes in the number of offline bank outlets

3 AI affects the company’s development

Artificial intelligence and big data are closely related, and big data is the foundation for the
learning and training of AI. Big data and AI affect all areas of human beings' life in this
internet era. For example, when opening an online APP shop, people will find that the
products recommended by artificial intelligence are based on the data of past users'
browsing and purchase; listening to music, artificial intelligence can select music for
listeners from a large number of songs they may like based on the frequency of music
downloads and listening in the past.
In the era of artificial intelligence, when people's various traces of life are in the hands
of these big companies in the form of data, people's lives will be manipulated by data.
Everyone has no secrets under AI. As consumers, AI guides people to face their desires,
stimulates their willingness to consume, and pays more for their interests or
"personalization" products. As a result, wealth will be easily controlled by large companies
that provide goods and services, creating a situation where large companies own more and
more money and even monopolize the industry.
AI will also help large companies improve productivity and production efficiency.
Today, AI technology is not yet widespread, large companies that take the lead in mastering
AI technology will use AI to optimize the internal structure of the company to enhance the
company's core competitiveness. Companies that do not have a good grasp of AI
technology cannot complete the process.
Nowadays, Amazon is launching a series of industrial monitoring tools that use AI to
help companies identify potential equipment failures, productivity bottlenecks, and worker
safety violations [4]. This type of AI can automatically detect anomalies in industrial
activities, improve industrial processes, and improve staff deployment to facilitate Amazon
to create more wealth with the least amount of time and staff. This process further creates a
gap between large and small companies that have mastered high-end technologies.

4 AI affects the gap between rich and poor in different

countries
Each country has different levels of AI technology; there is a gap between rich and poor.
The different impacts of AI on the wealth gap in developed countries and developing

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countries can be discussed with the use of the Gini coefficient. The Gini coefficient refers
to a standard index used internationally to measure the income gap of residents in a country
or region. The maximum Gini coefficient is 1, and the minimum is 0. The closer the Gini
coefficient is to 0, the more equal the income distribution is [5].
Goyal & Aneja (2020) demonstrated that the Gini coefficient of developing countries is
higher than that of developed countries, which indicates that the degree of income
inequality in developing countries is higher than that in developed countries [6]. The
critical reason is that developing countries still have a significant gap in artificial
intelligence technology and automation, and their production methods are still relatively
primitive. The developed countries have taken the lead in mastering artificial intelligence
technology, which can transform AI technology into new productivity.

5 Conclusion
AI technology has various influences on people's life and methods of production and brings
advantages to society. AI also widened the gap between the rich and the poor. For
individuals, the development of artificial intelligence technology inevitably leads to the
circumstances that: many jobs that people depend on for their livelihoods would be
replaced, causing a large number of low-skilled workers to become unemployed and
poverty due to unemployment. At the same time, AI has led to the rise of new professions,
those high-quality talents become richer. For companies, on the one hand, large companies
with AI advantages can rely on their advantages to produce new high-tech products, reduce
the pressure on human and material resources, and achieve efficient revenue. On the other
hand, small companies that do not have technological advantages need to use primitive
production methods, which have low production efficiency and low product quality, thus
having a low revenue. Besides, they also need to pay high labour costs. For countries, AI
can divide the poor from the rich so that it will increase the country's Gini coefficient. So, it
can be concluded that AI can widen the gap between rich and poor, The 21st century may
be the most unfair era.

References
1. Yang, Y., Analysis of the impact of artificial intelligence development on employment.
Piscataway: The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE), 2020.
DOI: http://dx.doi.org.lib-ezproxy.hkbu.edu.hk/10.1109/ICCEA50009.2020.0007
2. Harari, Y., 21 lessons for the 21st century (First ed.), 2018.
3. Analysis of the change trend of the total number of bank outlets in the country, 2019.
Retrieved from https://www.sohu.com/a/339728671_100203876
4. Tyler Sonnemaker. Amazon is launching new industrial AI tools to help companies
monitor productivity and worker safety. Business Insider, 2020.
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and the poor in 2019: the gap between the rich and the poor reduces national happiness.
Retrieved from https://www.huaon.com/channel/data/
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http://dx.doi.org.lib-ezproxy.hkbu.edu.hk/10.1002/pa.2326