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On November 30, 2022, OpenAI introduced ChatGPT, building on the success of its popular image-creation tool DALL-E. Led by CEO Sam Altman, the company’s conversational AI rapidly drew millions of users and earned praise as a groundbreaking innovation.
These days, the platform boasts around 800 million active users each week and operates in over 20 languages. Beyond the United States, nations such as India, Brazil, Indonesia, and the Philippines rank among its largest and most rapidly expanding user bases. The following examines ChatGPT’s profound influence around the world.
Shortly after its debut, analysts warned of widespread employment disruptions driven by AI. Within a year, early effects emerged in fields like illustration, web development, translation services, and freelance writing for international clients, including essay composition for U.S. students by workers in Kenya.
Yet many professionals are using the technology to boost efficiency. In Indonesia’s movie sector, scriptwriters rely on ChatGPT for idea generation. Farmers in Malawi turn to a localized chatbot powered by it for real-time guidance in their native tongues. In Colombia, about 85% of judicial officials employ no-cost versions of ChatGPT or Microsoft Copilot to streamline tasks, speeding up case resolutions and enabling attorneys to file more suits efficiently.
Educators soon began weaving ChatGPT into teaching strategies. One institution in India incorporates the AI for student-led investigations, followed by group discussions on findings. In Mali, an initiative leverages the tool to convert educational resources into regional dialects, aiding children’s quicker comprehension and better retention in classes.
Across Africa, a high number of emerging AI education ventures provide virtual classes, coding competitions, and career support services.
However, adopting AI in schools has faced hurdles elsewhere. South Korea discontinued its AI-enhanced textbook initiative after only four months due to concerns over factual errors, privacy issues, and added burdens voiced by educators, pupils, and families.
Globally, one of ChatGPT’s most frequent applications involves medical questions and advice. In South Korea, this extends to interactive robot companions for the elderly, which engage in dialogue, prompt medication adherence, and notify caregivers in crises.
During 2024, when over 2 billion individuals in 50 countries participated in elections, campaigns used ChatGPT to connect with diverse linguistic groups. In India, AI firms earned substantial revenue by crafting election materials. Separately, more than 170 fake social media profiles generated content via the tool to interfere in Ghana’s leadership race.
Journalists monitored significant cases of AI-produced election materials worldwide through a dedicated 2024 AI Elections Tracker, highlighting instances from lighthearted visuals to deceptive information that altered public discourse and voter involvement.
ChatGPT performs strongly in common languages like English, Spanish, and Japanese, but it falters with less digitally prominent ones such as Bengali, Swahili, Urdu, and Thai, despite their vast speaker populations. Evaluations revealed the AI’s shortcomings in these tongues, including invented terms, incoherent replies, and outright fabrications, posing risks for content oversight in sensitive areas.
In response, communities in non-English regions are developing custom large language models. Indonesia, home to over 700 dialects, hosts several such efforts. In the Philippines, creators are launching ITanong, a competitor to ChatGPT that handles Filipino and mixed Tagalog-English speech. Latin America’s Chile spearheads Latam-GPT as a regional option, while Nigeria’s Awarri, an under-the-radar firm, leads a state-backed project for the country’s inaugural local model. Similarly, a Mongolian enterprise aims to craft its own AI system to better serve underrepresented dialects and lessen dependence on foreign technologies.
Officially, ChatGPT remains inaccessible in China, with OpenAI restricting new account creations there. Still, determined individuals circumvent blocks using virtual private networks or foreign SIM cards. Some innovators have embedded the AI’s underlying technology into domestic websites, assisting with tasks from professional summaries to personal counseling.
Meanwhile, China has advanced its own AI offerings, such as Alibaba’s Qwen, which secured prominent partnerships in 2024. The release of DeepSeek’s system this year, matching top international standards at a fraction of the expense, caught global attention. Following this, various Chinese businesses, from vehicle manufacturers to household goods producers, have rushed to integrate the domestic AI into their operations.
