SEOUL, Sept. 28 (Yonhap) -- South Korea was ranked 12th place in the global artificial intelligence (AI) diffusion scale, with more than 40 percent of the population using the technology in the second quarter, a report from Microsoft Corp. showed Monday.
Generative AI usage rate among South Koreans aged 15 to 64 rose 3.5 percentage points from the previous quarter, bringing the country up by four ranks as of end-June, according to the global AI diffusion report published by the U.S. software developer.
Global usage rate of generative AI was up 1 percentage point from 17.8 percent in the January-March period to 18.8 percent in the April-June period, the report showed.
United Arab Emirates (UAE) was the highest in AI adoption, with a usage rate of 73.3 percent. Followed by Singapore at 64.3 percent, Ireland at 49.9 percent and France estimated at 49.6 percent.
The AI usage rate was 28.8 percent in the Global North and 16.2 percent in the Global South, widening the adoption gap to 12.6 percentage points.
Global North is a term referring to wealthy, industrialized countries, such as the United States, South Korea, Japan, Israel and New Zealand. The Global South refers to developing nations, often with lower incomes, including most of Africa, Latin America and parts of Asia.
This divide reflects the systemic challenges facing the Global South, where limited access to electricity, internet connectivity and digital skills continue to constrain adoption, Microsoft said, noting the benefits of generative AI will remain unevenly distributed, until these gaps are addressed.
The rank movements for the top 30 economies in terms of artificial intelligence (AI) adoption for the second quarter of 2026, as seen included in a report published by Microsoft Corp., provided by the company. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)
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