Pakistan lags in AI adoption as global usage surges

The world is rapidly moving towards artificial intelligence (AI), but Pakistan is lagging behind in this regard. According to a recent report, less than 15% of people in Pakistan use AI.

The “AI Diffusion Report 2025” evaluated AI usage across 170 countries.

The latest report from Microsoft’s AI Economy Institute highlights that globally, countries like the United Arab Emirates, Singapore, and Norway are leading in AI adoption, while Pakistan lags, with fewer than 15% of the population using AI tools.

The report indicates that in the UAE and Singapore, more than 50% of people employ AI in their daily work, placing these countries at the forefront of global rankings.

Among Muslim-majority countries, the UAE leads in AI adoption, while Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Qatar, and Indonesia are also investing in AI for education, data centers, and government programs.

Experts attribute Pakistan’s slow adoption of AI to limited internet access, a lack of digital skills, and the unavailability of AI tools in local languages.

They suggest that acceptance of AI increases significantly in countries where people can use it in their native languages, such as English or Arabic. Introducing AI tools in Urdu and other regional languages could improve adoption in Pakistan.

AI has two sides: on one hand, it is transforming the world, while on the other, it is replacing some jobs, which creates hesitation among the general population.