Whether AIâs benefits will be shared broadly or remain concentrated in the hands of a few is the question for the Global South and it will reshape economies and societies, said Elizabeth Kelly, Anthropicâs head for beneficial deployments.
Kelly helped shape the Joe Biden administrationâs AI policy and executive order on AI governance and was also named on Time magazineâs list of 100 most influential people in the field. She served as special assistant to former US President Biden on the White House National Economic Council.
âIt is critical that countries across the Global South participate in shaping the trajectory of AI,â Kelly said in an interview. âThis includes building datasets in local languages, incorporating local accents and contexts, and conducting evaluations to understand how models perform in sectors like agriculture and healthcare.â
Kellyâs mandate at Anthropicâwhich has lately been at odds with the Trump administration over the use of proprietary AI models allegedly for surveillance and deployment in warâis to work with governments, nonprofits and institutions using artificial intelligence to tackle challenges in education, healthcare and economic opportunity.
âPart of why we exist is really making sure we are not repeating the past inequities we have seen with other technological changes,â Kelly said. âWe want to ensure this technology is broadly shared and actually raises the floor in terms of outcomes.â
India is emerging as a key market in that effort and is the companyâs second-largest market for Claude globally. Kelly attributed this to the countryâs strong developer and entrepreneurial base. Anthropic recently opened an office in Bengaluru.
âWhen we break down the usage patterns, we see very high use in coding, mathematics and computer related tasks,â she said. âPeople are using AI to get even greater efficiency.â
The countryâs diversity and scale also make it a testing ground for applications that could later become globally available. One such project is a collaboration with Pratham Education Foundation, which supports around 8 million students with a tool called the Anytime Testing Machine (ATM) that was built using Claude.
âIt generates questions in line with the curriculum. Students handwrite their answers, take a photo and get real time feedback,â Kelly said. âThat feedback feeds into the next set of questions so you have this constant iteration of learning.â
Anthropic is also exploring applications in the justice system through Adalat AI, which allows people to ask questions through WhatsApp and understand where their cases stand. Improving language coverage is another priority, through partnerships with organisations like Karya to build datasets that improve model performance in local languages.
Ensuring this transition takes place smoothly will require participation from every stakeholder, Kelly said. She pointed to a partnership with the government of Rwanda focused on healthcare and education as an example.
âIt involves collaboration with organisations that have deep local expertise, private sector partners building tools, and philanthropic support from foundations,â she said. âThis type of multi-stakeholder coalition will be essential if we want AIâs benefits to be widely shared.â
Concerns about jobs and economic disruption are growing as AI adoption accelerates. Kelly acknowledged the effects will vary across sectors but sees opportunity alongside disruption. âFor many professions like doctors, teachers or social workers, AI can handle the paperwork and other tasks that take time away from the work they care about,â she said. â
It allows them to focus more on the human connections. There is a huge opportunity to make sure this transition goes well and the benefits are widely shared.â
Tanya Pandey contributed to this story
Kelly helped shape the Joe Biden administrationâs AI policy and executive order on AI governance and was also named on Time magazineâs list of 100 most influential people in the field. She served as special assistant to former US President Biden on the White House National Economic Council.
âIt is critical that countries across the Global South participate in shaping the trajectory of AI,â Kelly said in an interview. âThis includes building datasets in local languages, incorporating local accents and contexts, and conducting evaluations to understand how models perform in sectors like agriculture and healthcare.â
Kellyâs mandate at Anthropicâwhich has lately been at odds with the Trump administration over the use of proprietary AI models allegedly for surveillance and deployment in warâis to work with governments, nonprofits and institutions using artificial intelligence to tackle challenges in education, healthcare and economic opportunity.
âPart of why we exist is really making sure we are not repeating the past inequities we have seen with other technological changes,â Kelly said. âWe want to ensure this technology is broadly shared and actually raises the floor in terms of outcomes.â
India is emerging as a key market in that effort and is the companyâs second-largest market for Claude globally. Kelly attributed this to the countryâs strong developer and entrepreneurial base. Anthropic recently opened an office in Bengaluru.
âWhen we break down the usage patterns, we see very high use in coding, mathematics and computer related tasks,â she said. âPeople are using AI to get even greater efficiency.â
The countryâs diversity and scale also make it a testing ground for applications that could later become globally available. One such project is a collaboration with Pratham Education Foundation, which supports around 8 million students with a tool called the Anytime Testing Machine (ATM) that was built using Claude.
âIt generates questions in line with the curriculum. Students handwrite their answers, take a photo and get real time feedback,â Kelly said. âThat feedback feeds into the next set of questions so you have this constant iteration of learning.â
Anthropic is also exploring applications in the justice system through Adalat AI, which allows people to ask questions through WhatsApp and understand where their cases stand. Improving language coverage is another priority, through partnerships with organisations like Karya to build datasets that improve model performance in local languages.
Ensuring this transition takes place smoothly will require participation from every stakeholder, Kelly said. She pointed to a partnership with the government of Rwanda focused on healthcare and education as an example.
âIt involves collaboration with organisations that have deep local expertise, private sector partners building tools, and philanthropic support from foundations,â she said. âThis type of multi-stakeholder coalition will be essential if we want AIâs benefits to be widely shared.â
Concerns about jobs and economic disruption are growing as AI adoption accelerates. Kelly acknowledged the effects will vary across sectors but sees opportunity alongside disruption. âFor many professions like doctors, teachers or social workers, AI can handle the paperwork and other tasks that take time away from the work they care about,â she said. â
It allows them to focus more on the human connections. There is a huge opportunity to make sure this transition goes well and the benefits are widely shared.â
Tanya Pandey contributed to this story
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