[🇧🇩] Artificial Intelligence-----It's challenges and Prospects in Bangladesh

[Saif]

AI and loss of linguistic creativity

WHILE artificial intelligence has much to offer to language, communication, education and society, it may also erode linguistic creativity. This may be in relation to English in particular, the global lingua...

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AI and loss of linguistic creativity

WHILE artificial intelligence has much to offer to language, communication, education and society, it may also erode linguistic creativity. This may be in relation to English in particular, the global lingua franca, which provides almost 90 per cent of the training data for generative AI systems.

Specifically, our concern is the linguistic creativity by non-native speakers of English. They are a clear demographic majority as there are three times more such speakers of English than its native speakers globally. Practically, more communication involving English now takes place within the former community than in the latter. Nevertheless, non-native speaker creativity in English has been slow to win recognition. For a long time, English language learners have been viewed as shadows of native speakers. They are supposed to pursue native-speaker competence as the only legitimate learning goal. Their learning journey starts from their first/native language, and they travel up to the almost unreachable ideal of native-speaker ability. For most of them, the journey ends long before they reach the destination. A few who are lingua-savvy may climb the height, but they may still not be considered native speakers due to, among other factors, the colour of their skin. Fortunately, things have been changing with non-native speakers of English outnumbering native speakers, but the pace has been much slower than expected.

It is the linguistic creativity of these learners and speakers of English that is my point. They are located at all stages of their language learning and using trajectory. Certainly, they don’t make one homogenous group. The contexts and circumstances of their English learning are different; different is also the extent of the use of English in their everyday life.

Nonetheless, many can be creative in English, with all their mistakes, idiosyncrasies and imperfections. As AI comes to dominate our language life and communication, this creativity is likely to disappear.

How may that happen?

Creativity in language can’t be associated only with native intuition or linguistic expertise. It also arises when speakers try to communicate with limited language skills. Linguistic creativity can emerge even from errors or imperfect learning when there is an urge for self-expression. For example, the innovative expression ‘Long time, no see’ is grammatically incorrect, yet its innovative expression of emotion is unique and undeniable. The origin of this expression is debated but it is widely viewed as an example of pidgin English which originated in a Chinese-English contact situation. The innovator of this creativity did not have perfect English. However, their limited linguistic ability to survive the communicative imperative gifted a profound expression to the English language.

This innovation is now considered part of mainstream English. Its grammatical oddity may not invite language policing or an orthodox English teacher using their red pen. It’s a classic example of how something that is an error at origin can travel a long way to be accepted as a legitimate expression.

Alas! with AI, speakers of pidgin English may not venture into such creative expressions. As people rely more on AI for writing and other communication, the everyday creativity through linguistic struggle may vanish. It is critical to appreciate this hidden loss of human creativity as native speaker-controlled AI dominates communication, life and society.

Another example is a historical letter which is currently on display at the Railway Museum in New Delhi. As reproduced below, it was written by one Okhil Chandra Sen to the divisional railway office in 1909 during British colonial rule in India. The ungrammatical text authored by a half-educated Indian man marked his complaint, also pointing to the limits of his linguistic ability.

‘I am arrive by passenger train Ahmedpur station and my belly is too much swelling with jackfruit. I am therefore went to privy. Just I doing the nuisance that guard making whistle blow for train to go off and I am running with ‘lotah’ in one hand and ‘dhoti’ in the next when I am fall over and expose all my shocking toman and female women on plateform. I am got leaved at Ahmedpur station. This too much bad, if passenger go to make dung that dam guard not wait train five minutes for him. I am therefore pray your honour to make big fine on that guard for public sake. Otherwise I am making big report! to papers.’

If we ask ChatGPT or another AI tool, it can do a good translation of this ‘broken’ English into British or American variety. But the writer’s meaning can be deciphered even from the non-standard text. His communicative intention is not lost in ungrammaticality or linguistic border crossing. Trains in those days didn’t have toilets in India. As the train that carried Mr Sen stopped at the noted station, he got off to respond to the call of nature in the open space. However, the train left before he was able to return to board it. As he was running to catch the train managing his dhoti and water pot, he ended up exposing himself to the surrounding world.

People may judge his English in any way they like. The judgment may depend on whether one is a linguistic puritan or a liberal. To me, this is real English in the life circumstances of this man and his Indian social surroundings. Expecting him to be able to write immaculate British or American English or even a more polished Indian variety will be unreasonable.

Our language reflects our life and situations. It can’t be too distant from our social existence. However, what is noteworthy is the urge to communicate, despite the limited ability. Despite all oddities, I am happy to consider it an innovative text that successfully communicated the message. I can’t but appreciate the linguistic graciousness of the audience who took the message and ignored the grammar.

We shouldn’t forget that this letter of complaint led to introducing toilets in Indian trains. As speakers of standard English, we may police the language, but we can’t undermine the impact it had. It is this achievement that has made the letter an artefact to be displayed in a museum.

Unfortunately, with AI tools in our hand, we may not see such creativity or innovation in language use. We may not even exert our intellectual, cognitive or creative labour. We will ask AI and it will do what we want done. We may even stop struggling with English.

Instead of experimenting on their own, nonnative speakers may use AI to produce correct language at the expense of their creative potential. While this makes communication easier, it may also eliminate their creative urge and homogenise the linguistic diversity that non-native speakers bring.

This potential loss of linguistic creativity will be a loss of humanity, human culture and civilisation.

Obaidul Hamid is an associate professor at the University of Queensland in Australia. He researches language, education and society in the developing world. He is a co‑editor of Current Issues in Language Planning.​

 

[Saif]

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Use of AI in trade: Where does Bangladesh stand?

Asjadul Kibria

Published :
Jun 21, 2026 00:16
Updated :
Jun 21, 2026 00:16

The rapid expansion of artificial intelligence (AI) across different areas in economy and trade has pushed countries onto a complex trajectory. To attain optimal gains from trade, wider use of AI now appears unavoidable. Countries are gradually using AI in trade facilitation, a set of measures to ease cross-border movement of goods, reduce trade costs, and enhance competitiveness. Recognising the importance of trade facilitation, World Trade Organization (WTO) member countries adopted the Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) at the 9th Ministerial Conference (MC9) in 2013. The agreement entered into force in 2017, requiring members to fulfil commitments within a specified timeframe by implementing trade facilitation measures. The core of the agreement is simplification, modernisation, and harmonisation of export and import processes. This involves shifting from paper-based, manual procedures to digital trade processes, with electronic data interchange, national single-window systems, and interoperable digital trade platforms gaining prominence. AI advancement is set to accelerate and simplify digital trade facilitation, though it is not risk-free.

AI is broadly defined as machine-based systems capable of learning from data, generating outputs, and influencing real or virtual environments. A key question is whether and to what extent countries like Bangladesh are prepared to use AI for trade facilitation. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and United Nations (UN) Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) try to address this in the 'Asia-Pacific Trade Facilitation Report 2026: Harnessing Artificial Intelligence in Trade Facilitation.' Released in the second week of this month, the report shows that although AI is gradually reshaping trade processes across Asia and the Pacific, most economies have yet to deploy the technology at scale. AI implementation in trade facilitation is below 15 per cent across the region.

Before examining AI's current status in trade facilitation, it is necessary to understand the overall implementation of measures in the region. Since entering into force in 2017, WTO TFA implementation has accelerated efforts toward simplification and harmonisation. The UN Global Survey on Trade Facilitation (UNTF Survey) includes these 'TFA-plus' paperless trade measures. According to the survey, the implementation rate reached around 70 per cent in Asia and the Pacific last year, matching the global rate. The implementation rate of digital trade facilitation rose to 60 per cent last year, up from 33 per cent in 2015. Developed countries have a higher rate of 78 per cent, however.

The UNTF survey covers 62 trade facilitation measures that the countries are now implementing. The measures are classified into 12 sub-groups, covering both binding and non-binding WTO TFA measures, as well as measures beyond the scope of the WTO TFA, with a focus on digital and sustainable trade facilitation. The five main sub-groups of the 'TFA-plus' measures are: (i) Transparency, (ii) Formalities, (iii) Institutional Arrangement and Cooperation, (iv) Paperless Trade, and (v) Cross-Border Paperless Trade. Measures under these subgroups are the core of trade facilitation.

The remaining seven sub-groups are: (i) Transit Facilitation, (ii) Trade Facilitation for SMEs, (iii) Agricultural Trade Facilitation, (iv) Women in Trade Facilitation, (v) Trade Finance Facilitation, (vi) Trade Facilitation for E-Commerce, and (vii) Green Trade Facilitation. Most of the measures under these sub-groups are largely dependent on the core measures.

According to the UNTF Survey, Bangladesh's average implementation rate of trade facilitation measures was 70 per cent last year, up from 32 per cent in 2015. The country made significant advances in transparency at 93 per cent. Progress in formalities was also satisfactory at 83 per cent. However, Bangladesh lags in institutional arrangements and cooperation at 67 per cent. Despite notable progress in paperless trade (71 per cent), it has yet to make visible progress in cross-border paperless trade (33 per cent).

The ADB-ESCAP report identifies five trade facilitation phases: (i) the paper-based era (pre-1990s); (ii) early digitalisation and electronic data interchange (late 1980s to 1990s); (iii) expansion of single window and paperless trade (late 1990s to 2010s); (iv) emerging technologies (late 2010s to early 2020s); and (v) advanced AI integration (early 2020s and beyond).

To get a clear picture of the current status, readiness, and challenges of AI in trade facilitation in Asia and the Pacific, ADB-ESCAP conducted a survey. The survey focuses on AI use by customs administrations and other government agencies involved in trade procedures, complementing the UNTF Survey. A separate working paper presents the survey findings and analyses, providing critical inputs for the ADB-ESCAP joint report.

The working paper showed that higher-income countries often have higher AI implementation and trade facilitation readiness than low-income countries. Nevertheless, some Least Developed Countries (LDCs) have made significant progress. For example, implementation rates for Bangladesh and Cambodia exceeded the region's average. In establishing legal frameworks and AI governance, survey findings show the Republic of Korea leads East and North-East Asia; Kazakhstan leads North and Central Asia; Singapore leads South-East Asia; and Bangladesh leads South and South-West Asia. The development is encouraging for Bangladesh.

According to the survey report, nearly 50 per cent of Asia-Pacific countries have initiated work on AI systems to automate customs procedures, though implementation rates for specific measures are much lower.

Overall, it showed that AI is most used for fraud/smuggling detection and cargo inspection/image analysis in these countries. The customs department is also well ahead of other government agencies in applying AI to trade facilitation.

Several barriers challenge the use of AI in trade facilitation. The most significant barrier in the developing Asia-Pacific region is the lack of AI and Machine Learning expertise and skills, along with coordination challenges and high costs, according to the survey findings.

The findings and analyses presented in the above-mentioned reports carry significant implications for policymakers in Bangladesh and other developing nations. Though trade facilitation is designed to cut costs, the persistence of geopolitical conflicts and tensions has driven up trade costs in various ways. So, it becomes more challenging for nations to contain costs and advance trade facilitation measures. The use of AI can help countries reduce trade costs.​

 

[Saif]

Can outcome-based education survive the age of AI?

Generative AI challenges Outcome-Based Education in Bangladeshi universities, requiring urgent pedagogical and assessment reforms to safeguard learning.

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Can outcome-based education survive the age of AI?

 

[Saif]

AI shifts from threat to growth driver in software industry

Just a year ago, the growing adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) raised concerns across Bangladesh’s software industry. The biggest fear was simple: AI would replace jobs. Today, that fear has not disappeared entirely, but the conversation has clearly shifted.For many of Bangladesh’s...

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AI shifts from threat to growth driver in software industry

Entry-level developers, small firms and freelancers still face uncertainties

Mahmudul Hasan

Just a year ago, the growing adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) raised concerns across Bangladesh’s software industry.

The biggest fear was simple: AI would replace jobs. Today, that fear has not disappeared entirely, but the conversation has clearly shifted.For many of Bangladesh’s leading software companies, AI is now seen less as a threat and more as a driver of growth in an industry that had been struggling to expand.

Industry leaders say AI is supporting growth in two main ways. First, companies are using AI internally to speed up software development, testing and deployment, while also reducing costs and improving quality.Second, the global AI boom is opening new business opportunities, as international clients increasingly demand AI-powered automation and upgrades to existing systems.

“The fear of AI has largely faded, at least for now,” said M Manjur Mahmud, president of DataSoft Systems Bangladesh Ltd.

“Companies are now focused on understanding how AI can reshape business models and create new opportunities. Global clients increasingly want to upgrade their existing software with AI, agent-based AI and machine learning capabilities,” he added.

However, he noted that demand for traditional software development is declining.

“Companies that relied on low-value services, such as basic website development and routine software work, are already losing business,” he said.

NEW TYPES OF WORK AND RISING PRODUCTIVITY

For Brain Station 23, one of Bangladesh’s largest software firms with nearly 1,000 employees, AI is driving growth rather than slowing it.

“Because of AI, we are seeing about a 25 percent to 30 percent increase in entirely new types of work,” said Raisul Kabir.

“At the same time, traditional workloads have fallen by around 10 percent to 15 percent. Overall growth is about 15 percent to 20 percent, which is reflected in our revenue,” he said.

Kabir acknowledged that AI is reducing traditional software work.

“There is no doubt that AI has reduced a lot of our traditional workload. The work is shrinking,” he said.

However, he added that AI has also greatly improved productivity.

“A task or piece of code that used to take 10 days can now be completed in one or two days with AI.”

This efficiency is also helping firms take on more advanced global projects.

“We can now take on projects that we could not handle before. For example, we could not work with Magento (an open-source e-commerce platform) earlier, but now we can manage Magento projects easily thanks to AI,” Kabir added.

The industry’s AI-driven expansion is also visible in export data. According to the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB), software exports rose 54 percent year-on-year to $21.39 million between July and November last year, driven by rising global demand for automation tools, AI-integrated applications and custom software solutions.

Industry leaders say the actual size of Bangladesh’s software exports is significantly higher than official figures suggest. They argue that many companies’ earnings are not fully captured in official data, and a large share of income from freelancers and independent tech professionals is also missing from reporting.

FREELANCERS, JUNIOR DEVELOPERS UNDER PRESSURE

However, while established software firms are benefiting, the outlook is more uncertain for freelancers, small firms and entry-level developers.

Senior software engineer Shadman Sakib Sorbo warned that Bangladesh’s software export model still relies heavily on cost advantages in low- to medium-complexity work.

“AI is reshaping the global software industry, and Bangladesh is no exception. As someone working in this space, I see both real opportunities and real concerns,” he added.

Sorbo said entry-level and repetitive coding jobs are now most at risk.

“These roles have traditionally been the entry point for fresh graduates into the software industry. If AI takes over boilerplate code and routine tasks, junior developers may find it harder to get started.”

He also warned of wage pressure across the sector.

“As AI reduces the cost of basic software work globally, clients may expect more for less. If the local industry does not upskill quickly, higher-value AI-driven work could move to more advanced markets,” he said.

At the same time, he said AI is creating new opportunities.

“AI is a powerful productivity tool. Developers who learn to use AI for code generation, testing and debugging can become far more competitive globally,” he said.

He added that new roles are emerging, including prompt engineering, AI model fine-tuning, data annotation and AI quality assurance.

“Our large, young and tech-focused workforce is a major advantage in this shift,” he said.

Rezwanul Haque Jami, chief executive officer of Digibox Limited, said AI’s impact is already visible in hiring patterns.

“In my company, I used to hire fresh software developers regularly. Now, a senior developer using AI tools like Claude can effectively do the work of two or three junior coders,” he said.

“I have not hired a fresher in over a year,” he added.

Jami also said that tasks such as prototyping and wireframing, which once required significant manpower, are increasingly being automated by AI tools.

ADAPT OR FALL BEHIND

Industry experts agree on one point: AI will not eliminate jobs overnight, but it is already reshaping the software industry.

The divide, they say, will increasingly be between those who adapt and those who fail to keep pace.

“AI will not eliminate Bangladeshi tech jobs overnight, but it will sharply separate those who adapt from those who do not,” said Sorbo.

“The time to invest in AI literacy -- in universities, bootcamps and companies -- is now, not after the transformation fully arrives,” he added.​

 

[Saif]

EWU hosts discussion on AI in industry, education

The management information systems department at East West University has organised a discussion titled Artificial Intelligence in Industry: Transforming Education and the Future Workplace at the Nousher Ali Lecture Gallery of the university in Dhaka recently.

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EWU hosts discussion on AI in industry, education
Staff Correspondent 28 June, 2026, 01:15

The management information systems department of East West University organises a discussion titled Artificial Intelligence in Industry: Transforming Education and the Future Workplace at the Nousher Ali Lecture Gallery of the university in Dhaka recently. | Press release photo

The management information systems department at East West University has organised a discussion titled Artificial Intelligence in Industry: Transforming Education and the Future Workplace at the Nousher Ali Lecture Gallery of the university in Dhaka recently.

The event aimed to enhance students’ understanding of the growing significance of artificial intelligence in modern industries, business operations and professional environments, said a press release on Saturday.

Through discussions led by industry experts, students gained valuable insights into how AI is reshaping organisations, creating new career opportunities and transforming workplace practices across Bangladesh and beyond.

Reaz Uddin Khan, head of Bangladesh, ADA Data AI Solutions Limited, and Md Tajdiqul Islam, manager, business excellence and project supply chain, Nestlé Professional Bangladesh, attended the discussion as guest speakers.

The speakers shared their experiences and perspectives on the practical applications of AI, emerging industry trends, data-driven decision-making, workforce transformation and the skills required for success in an AI-powered economy.

Speaking about the event, the organisers — EWU senior lecturer Bushra Humyra Esha and lecturer Munira Parvin — emphasised the importance of preparing students for a future in which artificial intelligence would play an increasingly central role in business, education, and society.​

 

[Saif]

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Govt to introduce AI-based market monitoring system for agriculture, trade: Commerce Minister

UNB
Published :
Jul 03, 2026 22:24
Updated :
Jul 03, 2026 22:24

The government is set to introduce an artificial intelligence (AI)-based market monitoring system to make agricultural production and market management more data-driven and effective, Commerce, Industries, Textiles and Jute Minister Khandaker Abdul Muktadir said on Friday.

The proposed system will analyse production data, weather forecasts, international market trends, import requirements and supply conditions to facilitate timely policy decisions, he told reporters after a prize-giving ceremony marking National Education Week 2026 at Sylhet Sadar Upazila Auditorium.

The event was organized by the Sylhet Sadar Upazila administration and the Upazila Secondary Education Office.

Muktadir said the AI-based platform would be developed in coordination with the ministries concerned, including agriculture, fisheries and livestock.

"Once operational, the system will make market monitoring more institutionalised, data-driven and effective. It will enable the government to respond more quickly to artificial shortages, abnormal price hikes and market volatility," he said.

The minister also announced that the government is implementing an integrated plan to develop Sylhet into one of Bangladesh's leading vegetable export hubs.

As part of the initiative, a modern packaging centre will be established in Sylhet, while farmers will receive training on international production standards, and a traceability system will be introduced to meet export market requirements.

Although Sylhet produces large quantities of vegetables, export potential remains underutilised due to inadequate packaging and logistical facilities, he said.

"Removing these constraints will help transform Sylhet into one of the country's major vegetable exporting regions," he added.

Responding to a question on commodity prices, Muktadir said prices of most products in Bangladesh are determined by market forces. However, the government is working to formulate an effective pricing framework for essential commodities to maintain market stability.

The framework will be finalised following consultations with relevant stakeholders, he said.

Asked whether exports would increase this year, the minister said ongoing global conflicts and geopolitical instability have affected international trade and exports.

He expressed optimism that Bangladesh's exports would expand once the global situation stabilises, adding that the government is also taking steps to ensure uninterrupted energy supply to the industrial sector.

The programme was chaired by Sylhet Sadar Upazila Nirbahi Officer Khoshnur Rubaiyat.

Among others, Sylhet City Corporation Administrator Abdul Qayyum Chowdhury, Sylhet Development Authority Chairman Rezaul Hasan Qayes Lodhi, Sylhet Zila Parishad Administrator Abul Kaher Chowdhury Shamim, Sylhet Metropolitan BNP General Secretary Emdad Hossain Chowdhury, Deputy Director of the Department of Agricultural Extension in Sylhet Md Shamsuzzaman and Sylhet Sadar Upazila BNP President Abul Kashem attended the event.

Earlier in the day, Muktadir distributed financial assistance from his discretionary fund, handed over wheelchairs to persons with disabilities, distributed goat feed among members of disadvantaged small ethnic communities, participated in a tree plantation programme in Sylhet Sadar and attended a Partner Congress organised by the Sadar Agriculture Office as the chief guest.​

 

[Saif]

AI-based customs clearance set to begin next month

The customs authority is set to introduce an Automated Risk Management System (ARMS) next month in a bid to address the long-standing allegations of unnecessary harassment in the selection of import consignments for physical inspection at ports. The AI-powered ARMS, scheduled to be launched under

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AI-based customs clearance set to begin next month
Container dwell time at Ctg port expected to drop nearly 50pc
Doulot Akter Mala

Published :
Jul 08, 2026 08:50
Updated :
Jul 08, 2026 08:50

The customs authority is set to introduce an Automated Risk Management System (ARMS) next month in a bid to address the long-standing allegations of unnecessary harassment in the selection of import consignments for physical inspection at ports.

The AI-powered ARMS, scheduled to be launched under the National Single Window (NSW), is expected to be a game-changer for customs clearance at the Chattogram Port by reducing human intervention in cargo inspection.

The World Bank-supported NSW project, launched in 2017, is scheduled to end in December 2026 after an eight-year journey to automate customs procedures and streamline trade facilitation.

Jewel Ahmed, Project Director at the NSW, said the system has already proven successful by enabling businesses to obtain certificates, licences and permits (CLPs) in less than a day-a process that was previously lengthy and cumbersome.

With the introduction of ARMS, container dwell time is expected to be cut by nearly half, significantly improving the ease of doing business and facilitating international trade, he said.

According to the 2023 Container Port Performance Index, Chattogram Port ranked 348th position among 405 ports worldwide.

A 2022 Customs Time Release Study found that customs clearance in Bangladesh required an average of 11 days.

Although container dwell time has since declined to around six to eight days, it still lags behind regional competitors such as Colombo and Ho Chi Minh City, where cargo clearance generally takes only two to three days.

Abdur Razzaque, Chairman of the Research and Policy Integration for Development (RAPID), said in a recent paper on Bangladesh's export competitiveness that logistics delays are not merely an infrastructure issue but it is a major competitive disadvantage for exporters.

"Every extra day at the port raises uncertainty, weakens buyers' confidence and reduces Bangladesh's ability to respond quickly to export orders," he said.

Manual processes and fragmented data systems prolong customs clearance and increase transaction costs, he noted.

Despite the introduction of the Bangladesh Single Window and the Authorised Economic Operator (AEO) scheme, trade facilitation reforms have yet to deliver sufficient improvements, he added.

He also pointed out that longer container dwell time and slower customs clearance undermine the reliability of Bangladesh's time-sensitive exports.

At present, customs officials select import consignments for physical examination largely on a random basis. Under ARMS, however, an AI-driven machine learning system will determine which containers require inspection based on traders' compliance history, risk profiles and other parameters.

The machine learning system was originally scheduled to be launched on May 11. However, its implementation was delayed due to technical upgrades required by the World Bank and other stakeholders, Mr Ahmed said.

Once the ARMS is operational, customs officials will no longer manually select containers for inspection, which will reduce discretionary intervention and lessen unnecessary harassment of compliant traders, he added.

The government signed the financing agreement with the World Bank in 2017. Upon completion of the project later this year, the government will take over its operation and management.

As of Tuesday, around 1.3 million certificates, licences and permits (CLPs) had been issued through the NSW platform. Of them, about 85 per cent were issued within one hour, while 95 per cent were processed in less than one day.

Businesses no longer need to visit agencies such as Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institution (BSTI), Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA) or Directorate General of Drug Administration (DGDA) to obtain clearance documents for customs purposes, Mr Ahmed said.

"Businesses can now apply online, make payments electronically and obtain the required permits from anywhere in the world," he added.

Nusrat Nahid Babi, a Senior Transport Specialist at the World Bank (WB) said Bangladesh has set a target to facilitate 60 percent clearance through green channels. Automated Risk Management System (ARMS) is the key to achieving this target.

ARMS is a business intelligence tool, the more information it gets, the more accurate analysis it can produce to assess risky consignments, it was learnt.

For effective functioning of ARMS, it needs full integration with Asycuda and other related back-office digital solutions.

ARMS is the first step to coordinated border management. It will work hand-in-hand with Bangladesh Single Window and it would be important for all border clearance agencies to share data with ARMS to produce robust risk assessment reports and facilitate trade.​

 

[Saif]

Govt giving the highest priority to developing AI-skilled workforce: Faqir Mahbub Anam

Minister for Posts, Telecommunications and Information Technology and Science and Technology Faqir Mahbub Anam on Saturday said the government is giving the highest priority to developing an AI-skilled workforce, describing artificial intelligence as a key driver of the country's future economy, in

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Govt giving the highest priority to developing AI-skilled workforce: Faqir Mahbub Anam

Minister for Posts, Telecommunications and Information Technology and Science and Technology Faqir Mahbub Anam on Saturday said the government is giving the highest priority to developing an AI-skilled workforce, describing artificial intelligence as a key driver of the country's future economy, innovation and competitiveness.

He made the remarks while inaugurating the Artificial Intelligence Research Laboratory and AI Project Competition 2026 at Daffodil International University (DIU) in Birulia, Savar.

Speaking at the event, the minister said AI is no longer just an emerging technology but has become a transformative force shaping education, healthcare, agriculture, industry, business and public administration.

"Building a new Bangladesh requires sustained investment in research, innovation and the development of a highly skilled workforce," he said.

He said university-based AI research laboratories can serve as centres of excellence by equipping students with advanced knowledge and practical skills, enabling them to conduct research, develop innovative prototypes and create industry-focused solutions.

Highlighting the government's digital transformation agenda, the minister said continued investment in the ICT sector has laid a strong foundation for developing future-ready human resources through a range of initiatives.

Referring to the government's long-term vision, Anam said Prime Minister Tareq Rahman considers young people the driving force behind tomorrow's Bangladesh.

"Our goal is to create one million new jobs in the ICT sector over the next five years," he said, adding that AI will play a central role in achieving that target by driving economic growth, employment and innovation.

The minister also announced that the government and the Ministry of Posts, Telecommunications and Information Technology would support the most promising AI projects developed by DIU students through the ministry's Startup Fund and other relevant platforms.

He said the government is also working to establish AI training centres across the country while expanding satellite-based internet connectivity to the grassroots to ensure wider access to digital services.

The newly inaugurated AI Research Laboratory includes 25 NVIDIA DGX Spark workstations, along with five high-performance computers powered by RTX 3060 and RTX 4090 graphics processing units (GPUs).

According to the university, the laboratory has appointed five full-time researchers who are working on AI-driven solutions to real-world challenges, including AI agents and product development. The research team has already developed platforms such as AI Professor, AI Proctor and AI Registrar, and is currently developing a Smart Classroom system.

The minister later distributed prizes to 12 winning teams across six categories in the AI Project Competition 2026, where 145 student-developed AI projects were showcased.

Dr Md Sabur Khan, chairman of the Board of Trustees of Daffodil International University chaired the session.

Among those present were Vice-Chancellor Prof Dr S M R Kabir, Pro-Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Md Shams Iqbal, Head of the Department of Computing and Information Systems Prof Dr Md Sarwar Hossain Mollah, faculty members, students and invited guests.​

 

[Saif]

‘Build AI capability, not just digital access’

Speakers at a roundtable yesterday urged experts to move beyond digitalisation and build a national ecosystem centred on people, skills, and innovation to enhance and foster artificial intelligence (AI) capability.

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‘Build AI capability, not just digital access’

Speakers call for national AI ecosystem centred on people, skills, innovation at roundtable by Grameenphone, Star

Staff Correspondent

Speakers at a roundtable, titled “Future-Ready Bangladesh: AI, Skills & Youth Employability in the Digital Economy”, jointly organised by Grameenphone and The Daily Star at The Daily Star Centre yesterday. Photo: Star

Speakers at a roundtable yesterday urged experts to move beyond digitalisation and build a national ecosystem centred on people, skills, and innovation to enhance and foster artificial intelligence (AI) capability.

Building AI capability is a must to reshape the economy, labour markets and global competitiveness, they said.

Grameenphone and The Daily Star jointly organised the roundtable titled “Future-Ready Bangladesh: AI, Skills & Youth Employability in the Digital Economy”, at The Daily Star Centre.

Bangladesh’s success in the AI era would depend less on adopting technology and more on developing human capability, strengthening institutions and introducing coordinated national policies, the speakers said.

Delivering the keynote address, Zulkarin Jahangir, research affiliate at MIT and assistant professor at North South University, said AI has already become mainstream globally, with 78 percent of organisations using AI and nearly half automating complete workstreams through AI agents.

“The question is not whether Bangladesh will adopt AI, but whether Bangladesh can build capability faster than others,” he said.

He cautioned that digital readiness alone would not make the country competitive in the AI era.

“Bangladesh now needs to transform digital access into AI capability,” he said.

Drawing on findings from Unesco’s AI Readiness Assessment, the Stanford AI Index and other global studies, Jahangir said the country’s greatest investment must now be its people.

He urged universities to redesign education and ensure that students develop critical thinking, reasoning, creativity and ethical judgement alongside introducing AI governance frameworks, disclosure requirements for AI-assisted academic work, faculty training and discipline-specific AI literacy.

“AI should accelerate learning -- it should never replace learning,” he said.

The government is preparing a national AI policy to improve public service delivery and governance through integrating AI into government programmes. We want to ensure transparency and accountability, and AI can help us achieve both---------Mahdi Amin, adviser to the prime minister.

He also called on Bangladesh to build its own AI ecosystem instead of remaining a consumer of imported technologies by investing in Bangla datasets, AI-enabled freelancing, model evaluation, data annotation and applied AI research.

Jahangir further proposed a National AI Skills Compact, bringing together government, universities, industry and development partners.

Mahdi Amin, adviser to the prime minister for ministries of education and labour and employment, said the government is preparing a national AI policy to improve public service delivery and governance through integrating AI into government programmes ranging from social safety nets and policymaking to project monitoring and public service delivery.

He added that AI could significantly strengthen monitoring and supervision of public projects while reducing bureaucratic delays.

“The government wants to ensure transparency and accountability, and AI can help us achieve both,” he added.

Amin also stressed that the government sees itself as a policy facilitator, with the private sector leading economic growth through stronger public-private partnerships.

He announced plans to gradually make technical and vocational education compulsory from sixth-grade, establish TVET laboratories across schools, and strengthen university-industry collaboration to bridge the country’s skills gap.

Prof Dr Mamun Ahmed, chairman of University Grants Commission, said Bangladesh’s higher education sector is facing a strange paradox where the number of university graduates and graduate unemployment both remain high due to the absence of a linkage between academia and industry.

He said the UGC is working on creating a digital platform connecting students, universities, industry, faculty members and the Bangladeshi diaspora to improve collaboration and employability.

ASM Amanullah, vice-chancellor of National University, said the country’s university system needs a major transformation to prepare nearly four million students for the AI era with a competent curriculum.

Skill-based education and a complete paradigm shift in curriculum are essential to prepare graduates for future jobs, he added.

Grameenphone Chief Financial Officer Otto Magne Risbakk described today’s youth as digital natives capable of transforming organisations, but warned that rapid AI innovation must be matched by long-term investments in digital infrastructure.

Farhana Islam, head of Environment, Social and Governance at Grameenphone, said Bangladesh faces a widening skills gap as 2.2 million young people enter the job market annually while graduate unemployment remains at 28 percent.

She noted that Bangladesh ranks 75th among 195 countries on the Oxford Insights Government AI Readiness Index, and that nearly 90 percent of young people currently use AI mainly for social media and entertainment rather than career development, while two-thirds of global employers now prefer candidates with AI skills.

She highlighted Grameenphone Academy’s role in addressing the gap through reaching more than 3,24,000 youths and awarding over 1,31,000 certifications.

Mahfuz Anam, editor and publisher of The Daily Star, said skills have become the defining factor between dependency and productivity in the AI era.

“We are beggars if we are not skillful, and if we are skillful, then we produce for the country,” he said.

He warned that AI could eliminate a large number of routine jobs and widen inequality unless countries invest aggressively in upskilling youths.

Shahir Chowdhury, chief executive officer of Shikho, said, “While technical AI skills like machine learning and data science remain important, the bigger opportunity is enabling millions of people to use AI effectively. Our education system must therefore prepare people not just for today’s jobs but for tomorrow’s opportunities.”

Maruf Azam, project manager at UNDP Bangladesh; Munir Hasan, president of the Bangladesh Open Source Network; and Kazi Faisal Bin Seraj, country representative of The Asia Foundation, as well as youth representatives Md Aman Ullah Aman and Maria Nawar, also spoke.

Tanjim Ferdous, head of Strategic Partnerships at The Daily Star, moderated the event.​

 

[Saif]

Bangladesh drafting human-centric AI policy: ICT minister

Bangladesh is formulating a human-centric National Artificial Intelligence (AI) Policy aimed at ensuring the ethical, safe and inclusive use of AI under the leadership of Prime Minister Tarique Rahman, Posts, Telecommunications and Information Technology Adviser Faqir Mahbub Anam has said.Speaking

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

Bangladesh drafting human-centric AI policy: ICT minister

Bangladesh is formulating a human-centric National Artificial Intelligence (AI) Policy aimed at ensuring the ethical, safe and inclusive use of AI under the leadership of Prime Minister Tarique Rahman, Posts, Telecommunications and Information Technology Adviser Faqir Mahbub Anam has said.

Speaking at the High-Level Meeting on Global AI Governance on the sidelines of the World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) 2026 in Shanghai on Saturday, the minister said the government was overhauling the country's digital policy and legal framework to harness AI for economic and social development while safeguarding citizens' rights and addressing emerging risks, according to a press statement sent by the ministry.

He said Bangladesh was preparing an integrated and inclusive AI policy based on human rights, ethics and responsible innovation, alongside a series of complementary initiatives to strengthen AI governance.

These include reinforcing personal data protection and cybersecurity, preparing guidelines for the use of AI in the public sector, introducing responsible data management standards, expanding AI education and curricula, and establishing decentralised AI Centres of Excellence across the country.

Addressing the international gathering, Faqir Mahbub Anam outlined four priorities for global AI governance — safety, equity, adaptability and international cooperation.

He called for stronger international collaboration to facilitate technology transfer, build institutional capacity, protect data sovereignty and ensure equitable access to AI technologies for developing countries.

"The future of artificial intelligence should not be defined solely by technological advancement but by human values, justice and inclusivity," he said.

Held under the theme "AI Partnership for a Brighter Future", the high-level meeting focused on the role of AI in accelerating sustainable development, promoting inclusive economic growth, strengthening global security and improving international governance of emerging technologies.

The event brought together heads of government, ministers, representatives from more than 100 countries, international organisations, technology companies and academic institutions to discuss the future of AI, its ethical governance and opportunities for global cooperation.

The four-day World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) 2026 is being held in Shanghai from July 17 to July 20.​

 

[Saif]

Bangladesh's AI policy must factor in the environmental costs

While the world rushes to learn how to use Artificial Intelligence (AI) in every sphere of life—from classrooms and hospitals to offices and newsrooms—remarkably little attention is paid to an uncomfortable question: what is the environmental cost of this technological revolution?

www.thedailystar.net

Bangladesh's AI policy must factor in the environmental costs

Naziba Basher

A drone view shows the xAI Colossus 2 'Macrohard' data centre in Southaven, Mississippi, US on May 30, 2026. FILE PHOTO: REUTERS

While the world rushes to learn how to use Artificial Intelligence (AI) in every sphere of life—from classrooms and hospitals to offices and newsrooms—remarkably little attention is paid to an uncomfortable question: what is the environmental cost of this technological revolution?

AI is often portrayed as something intangible. We interact with it through a simple prompt on a screen, receiving answers in seconds. It feels detached from the physical world. But behind every AI-generated response lies a vast physical infrastructure of data centres, high-performance processors, cooling systems and power grids that consume enormous amounts of electricity and water. The irony is difficult to ignore. At a time when the world is racing to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, AI is becoming one of the fastest-growing energy consumers.

According to a report by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), the rapid expansion of generative AI has significantly increased electricity demand, not only for training large language models but also for running them every time users submit prompts. Unlike conventional software, generative AI requires enormous computational power throughout its lifecycle. The report also notes that AI infrastructure consumes substantial amounts of water to cool the servers that keep these systems running, while the manufacturing and transportation of specialised hardware carry additional environmental costs. This raises an uncomfortable question: are we becoming so fascinated by what AI can produce that we have forgotten to ask what it consumes?

The environmental footprint extends far beyond electricity.

According to a report by the United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health (UNU-INWEH), by 2030, global AI-related data centres could consume around 945 terawatt-hours of electricity annually. Their water footprint could equal the basic domestic water needs of 1.3 billion people in sub-Saharan Africa, while the land required to support AI infrastructure could exceed 14,500 square kilometres.

These figures should concern every country, but perhaps none more than Bangladesh. Ours is among the nations that have contributed the least to global climate change while suffering some of its harshest consequences. Rising temperatures, erratic rainfall, river erosion, cyclones, floods and salinity intrusion are already placing immense pressure on our economy and natural resources. At the same time, the country is embracing digital transformation with remarkable speed.

Government services, banking, education, journalism and businesses are increasingly integrating AI into their operations. There is nothing inherently wrong with that. AI has extraordinary potential; it can improve disaster forecasting, optimise crop management, enhance healthcare, strengthen scientific research and even help monitor environmental degradation. According to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), AI is already being used to detect methane emissions, monitor biodiversity and map environmentally destructive activities.

The problem is adopting AI without accounting for its environmental costs. For Bangladesh, this conversation is particularly urgent because our energy resources remain constrained, electricity demand continues to rise, and water security is becoming increasingly fragile. If AI usage expands without investment in cleaner energy, efficient infrastructure and transparent environmental standards, the technology could quietly increase pressure on systems that are already under strain.

The environmental cost of AI is also becoming an issue of global equity. Wealthier countries and technology companies are driving much of the demand for AI computing, yet the environmental consequences—from emissions to water stress—are shared across borders. Countries already vulnerable to climate change could end up paying for a digital transformation that primarily benefits others.

The UN has therefore urged governments to develop standards for measuring AI’s environmental impacts, require greater transparency from technology companies, improve the efficiency of AI systems and power data centres with renewable energy wherever possible. And Bangladesh must take note. As the country develops its own AI strategies, environmental sustainability must become part of the conversation from the outset.

Policymakers should encourage the use of energy-efficient AI models, require greater transparency regarding the environmental footprint of digital infrastructure, and ensure that future investments in data centres align with the country’s renewable energy ambitions. Universities and researchers should also examine how AI can be deployed responsibly in Bangladesh’s unique environmental context rather than simply adopting models developed elsewhere.

Technology has always promised progress, and AI is no exception. But progress should not be measured solely by how quickly we can automate tasks or generate content. It should also be measured by whether innovation strengthens the world we live in or silently depletes the resources that sustain it.

Bangladesh has little choice but to embrace AI. The greater challenge is ensuring that, in doing so, we do not unknowingly deepen the very environmental crisis we are already struggling to survive.

Naziba Basher is a journalist at The Daily Star.​

 

[Saif]

Is Bangladesh ready for AI in business?

Artificial intelligence (AI) continues to generate curiosity, fear and hype. Some believe it will replace millions of jobs overnight.

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Is Bangladesh ready for AI in business?

Mamun Rashid

Artificial intelligence (AI) continues to generate curiosity, fear and hype. Some believe it will replace millions of jobs overnight. Others dismiss it as little more than chatbots or image generators. Both views miss the larger economic point. AI is reducing the cost of decision-making. Throughout economic history, whenever the cost of an important capability has fallen sharply, production systems have changed. The Industrial Revolution reduced the cost of physical labour. The internet reduced the cost of information exchange. AI is now reducing the cost of prediction, analysis, customer engagement, risk assessment, marketing, accounting and operational decisions. This is why AI matters for Bangladesh. Our economy has long benefited from low-cost labour, entrepreneurial resilience and execution at scale. These strengths helped build a globally competitive garments industry, expand financial inclusion and create a vibrant SME base.

But the next decade will be different. Global buyers now demand speed, traceability, quality assurance, compliance and data-backed visibility. Banks need better credit decisions. Farmers need better market information. Government agencies need to deliver services with fewer leakages. AI can help Bangladesh respond, but only if we treat it as an economic capability, not a technology slogan. The greatest opportunity lies with SMEs. They form the backbone of the economy, yet most lack analytics teams, structured customer databases, advanced inventory systems or marketing capabilities. Many still rely on intuition, fragmented records and manual follow-up.

AI can change that. A retailer can identify repeat customers, predict demand and manage inventory. A manufacturer can improve planning and reduce waste. A logistics company can optimise routes. A lender can assess credit more responsibly using alternative data. This is not about replacing entrepreneurs; it is about giving them better decision tools. The relevance extends across sectors. In garments, agriculture, banking, healthcare, education and public services, AI can support forecasting, quality control, disease detection, fraud detection, documentation, personalised learning and grievance management. However, AI is not a magic solution. Poor data will produce poor decisions. Weak governance will create new risks. Inefficient processes will remain inefficient if automated. A chatbot on a broken system does not create transformation; it only makes the system look modern. This is where Bangladesh must be careful. Many organisations may rush to adopt AI because it sounds fashionable. But real value will come from clean data, integrated systems, process redesign, employee training and responsible governance. AI adoption should begin with business problems, not software purchases.

Bangladesh should focus on three priorities: practical support for SMEs through adoption vouchers, tax incentives and low-cost advisory services; regulation that enables innovation through sandboxes while strengthening data protection, cyber security and accountability; and urgent human capital development so managers, bankers, teachers, doctors, agricultural officers, logistics planners, accountants and public officials can use AI productively. Employment will change. Some routine jobs will decline, many will evolve, and new categories of work will emerge. The right response is reskilling and moving workers from repetitive tasks to higher-value roles. Bangladesh also has an opportunity to build AI-enabled business services as an export industry. Our young workforce, startup ecosystem and global client experience can create solutions in customer experience, accounting, logistics, automation, compliance and SME productivity.

The question is whether we will remain passive consumers of imported AI products or become active builders of AI-enabled capabilities. We have entrepreneurial energy, a young population, strong SMEs and a growing technology base. What we now need is clearer public policy, bolder business leadership, better data governance and faster investment in human capability. AI should be viewed as Bangladesh’s next productivity challenge. It deserves an urgent answer.

The writer is an economic analyst​

 

[Saif]

Future of AI-driven digital currency in Bangladesh

The speech by Brett King, futurist and author of the bestselling book Bank 4.0, at Bankers Meet in Dhaka recently, organised by Filps in association with City Bank, Prime Bank, and AB Bank, has deeply inspired me to explore the future of AI-driven financial technology. His insights sparked a partic

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

Future of AI-driven digital currency in Bangladesh

The speech by Brett King, futurist and author of the bestselling book Bank 4.0, at Bankers Meet in Dhaka recently, organised by Filps in association with City Bank, Prime Bank, and AB Bank, has deeply inspired me to explore the future of AI-driven financial technology. His insights sparked a particular interest in digital currencies, specially Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) and Stablecoin, and their potential impact on the future of financial landscape in Bangladesh.

As financial technology evolves at a quicker pace and the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into currency systems is reshaping how societies/people use & manage money. One of the most significant transformations lies in how money is created, managed, and used. In this context, CBDC, Bitcoin, and Stablecoin will be shaping the future of money each with different features, strengths, and limitations. The race towards cited digital currencies has raised critical questions about stability, volatility, usability, popularity, efficiency, and security.

In Bangladesh, financial inclusion, digital infrastructure, and economic digitalisation adoption are critical. The choice of digital currency especially in an AI-integrated system can redefine the future of financial landscape. The decision on which digital currency model to adopt is really crucial for ensuring long-term economic stability, financial inclusion, and growth.

Understanding the key players in digital currency: Stablecoin. The Hot Topic in the Evolving Digital Economy: Stablecoin is a crypto currency attached with a stable asset like US Dollar or Gold. The most popular example includes USDT (Tether) and USDC. It aims to combine the benefits of digital currency with price stability removing volatility.

CBDC (Central Bank Digital Currency). This is a digital version of country’s national currency issued and regulated by central bank. It retains the full backing and authority of the government. In our country, Bangladesh Bank is currently exploring the feasibility of a Digital Taka.

Crypto currency – Bitcoin. Bitcoin is the pioneer of crypto currency which is decentralised, highly volatile, and operates without a central authority or regulator. It operates on blockchain technology and market dynamics.

The role of AI: AI can easily detect abnormal patterns in CBDC transactions in real time and improves the trust in the system. It is an advantage of CBDC over decentralised crypto currencies. AI-enabled CBDC can also respond to macroeconomic conditions faster than traditional monetary tools. In contrast, Bitcoin operates outside of any policy control. Stablecoins is powered by AI algorithms and can optimize routing of international transfers, offering a faster and cheaper alternative to SWIFT or remittance services like Western Union, Ria, etc.

Choice for Bangladesh: Bangladesh has been digitising economy rapidly, with increasing mobile banking usage (MFS like bKash, Nagad, OK Wallet, MeghnaPay or any other mobile banking app), a large unbanked population, and significant remittance flows from abroad.

From infrastructural context, AI integration in banking is still in its beginning stage in Bangladesh, but rapid progress in fintech adoption will open doors for state-backed AI-integrated CBDC. From regulatory environment perspective, the central bank of Bangladesh has been cautious towards crypto currencies like Bitcoin due to volatility and AML (Anti-Money Laundering) concerns. However, our central bank has shown openness towards exploring CBDC - Digital Taka.

CBDC- Digital Taka is likely to be the most viable and dominant form of digital currency for domestic transactions in Bangladesh due to its regulatory support, stability, and compatibility with national monetary policy.

Stablecoin may become prominent in cross-border transactions, offering lower remittance costs and faster processing; provided regulatory clarity improves or the central bank launches a state-backed stablecoin tied to Taka or USD.

Bitcoin and other crypto currencies will remain restricted due to their volatility, speculative nature, and concerns over AML (Anti-Money Laundering) compliance.

While Bitcoin brought blockchain into the mainstream, its lack of regulatory control and extreme volatility make it unsuitable for broad use in Bangladesh. In contrast, Stablecoin and CBDC powered by AI offer stability, efficiency, security, inclusiveness, governmental control and regulatory ease. This transformation in Bangladesh will be fully based on government decision for the adoption of CBDC and Stablecoin.

Strategic investment in digital infrastructure, regulatory frameworks, pilot programs for Digital Taka, cross-border stablecoin settlements, and AI talent development will be the key factors for banking sector in Bangladesh to get full benefit from this AI-financial revolution. If implemented wisely, an AI-integrated Digital Taka may revolutionise the country’s financial ecosystem, advancing transparency, inclusion, and efficiency across the board.

The writer is SVP & Head of Digital Channels, Prime Bank PLC.​

 

[Saif]

Readying youth for an AI-driven workforce

The world has undergone many transformations and the lives of people inside it have transformed many times. From the Dark Ages to the Age of Enlightenment to the Age of Science and Technology, how people lived and earned a living has acquired different meanings at different times. Times have change

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

Readying youth for an AI-driven workforce

The world has undergone many transformations and the lives of people inside it have transformed many times. From the Dark Ages to the Age of Enlightenment to the Age of Science and Technology, how people lived and earned a living has acquired different meanings at different times. Times have changed needs, needs have changed livelihoods, and livelihoods have changed lives. Imagine the postmen of yesteryears who travelled on foot to deliver letters from one place to another. Remember how much effort went into letter writing, from finding pen and paper to collecting stamps to waiting for days to getting letters posted and delivered. That entire exercise can be completed within minutes by email or instant messaging. The list of professions that have long vanished into the layers of time with the advancement of technology is long. However, the march of technology is relentless, and the artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics are now the latest phenomenon transforming the nature of work more profoundly than ever.

The impact of this latest technological revolution is already visible across almost every sector of the economy. From generative AI tools such as ChatGPT, Gemini and Claude to industrial robots, autonomous vehicles and AI-powered healthcare systems, intelligent technologies are reshaping how businesses operate and how people perform their daily tasks. Tasks that once required hours of human effort can now be completed in minutes. These changes, however, have their positive side and negative side. While more work can be done within a short period of time using less manpower, how these changes will impact the labour market is a matter of concern for many. Some of the predictions indeed paint a frightening picture.

For example, a recent study by the Center for Policy Dialogue (CPD) warns that the labour-intensive readymade garment (RMG) industry will see a massive reduction in its workforce due to the rapid advancement of automation and technology-based production systems. According to the study, without timely policy support for upskilling and reskilling, automation could displace 1.2 million jobs in the RMG sector by 2041. Among this, women workers will be hit the hardest, as the study finds that nearly 60 per cent of the jobs currently held by female workers could disappear over the next one or two decades as factories increasingly adopt automation and advanced technologies to remain competitive in the global market.

The projections of some international organizations are similarly striking. Goldman Sachs Research estimates that automation could replace around 300 million jobs globally. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) also estimates that AI will impact nearly 60 per cent of jobs in advanced economies and about 40 per cent of jobs worldwide, replacing some and complementing others.

Experts however are of the view that while technological advancement may eliminate certain jobs and services, it also creates new ones. Moreover, technological progress expands economic growth rather than shrinking it. The Industrial Revolution, for instance, displaced traditional handloom weaving and many artisanal occupations, but it also laid the foundation for the modern manufacturing economy and created millions of new jobs in factories and related industries. Likewise, the advent of computers rendered typists and many clerical roles largely obsolete, but it gave birth to the software industry, the internet economy and countless digital professions.

AI is likely to follow a similar path. Businesses will increasingly deploy AI to perform repetitive, routine, and data-intensive tasks. As a result, employment opportunities in data entry, basic accounting, customer support and call centres and other clerical roles may gradually decline as many of their routine tasks can be automated. It will allow companies to free up workers to focus on responsibilities that require judgement, creativity, critical thinking, and human interaction. Machine may complete vast amount of data with remarkable speed and accuracy, but it lacks many of the qualities that define human intelligence. It cannot show empathy, moral judgement, or emotional intelligence. Nor can it provide leadership. So AI is best suited to become a powerful tool to complement human capabilities rather than being a replacement for them.

At the same time, the rise of AI is creating occupations that were virtually unheard of just a decade ago. Professions in data science, machine learning training, cybersecurity, cloud computing, robotics, digital healthcare, semiconductor manufacturing, AI engineers and prompt engineers are expected to be in high demand in the coming years. In the future labour market, the most valuable asset will not simply be a university degree, but the ability to adapt to technological change, think critically and creatively, solve complex problems and embrace lifelong learning.

This, however, does not mean that the authorities can afford to take their eyes off the risk of job displacement in the garment industry and other labour-intensive sectors. Many routine tasks in these industries are likely to be automated gradually in the upcoming years. In the garment sector, for example, routine tasks such as fabric cutting, digital pattern making, quality inspection, and warehouse management are increasingly being performed using AI-powered systems and robotics. In fact, to remain competitive in an increasingly competitive global market, automation and higher value addition are not a luxury, but a necessity.

This is where proactive public policy becomes essential. The government must adopt a comprehensive strategy, supported by both fiscal and monetary measures, to help workers adapt to technological change. Large-scale investment in reskilling programmes that equip workers with new competencies, alongside continuous upskilling initiatives to enhance existing skills, should be prioritised. Without such measures, the benefits of AI-driven productivity could come at the cost of large-scale unemployment crisis and inequality.

At the same time, preparing the youth for the future jobs should be a national priority. Universities can no longer rely on conventional curricula that cannot keep pace with rapid technological change. Instead, they should strengthen industry-academia collaboration, modernise their curricula, and place greater emphasis on digital literacy, AI, data analytics, critical thinking, problem-solving, and other future-oriented skills. Technical and vocational education and training (TVET) institutions must also be upgraded to equip students and workers with practical, industry-relevant competencies.

AI presents both opportunities and challenges. How effectively a country harnesses its potential while minimising its disruptive effects will depend largely on the quality of its human capital. The more skilled, adaptable, and innovative the workforce, the better equipped the nation will be to turn AI into a driver of productivity and economic growth.​

 

[Saif]

I spent two years learning AI, then another year unlearning it

Like many people working close to technology, I believed AI would become the defining aspect for our generation.

www.thedailystar.net

I spent two years learning AI, then another year unlearning it

Maisha Islam Monamee

I spent two years learning about artificial intelligence-based tools. I read the papers, tested out the models, attended the workshops, built prompts, compared outputs, and watched each new release with the excitement of someone witnessing the future unfold in real time. Like many people working close to technology, I believed AI would become the defining aspect for our generation.

Then, I spent one year unlearning AI. I realised how astonishing these systems had become. I also realised that the greatest threat AI posed was not to my career, but to my mind. This latter realisation came when I uninstalled ChatGPT from my phone.

My friends assumed I was making some grand statement against technology. But I was simply trying to rescue a part of myself that had begun disappearing. The habit of turning to an AI tool starts innocently enough. You want to Google something, so you ask ChatGPT. You struggle to begin writing an email, so you ask ChatGPT to write it for you. You cannot quite articulate a thought, so you ask ChatGPT for help. Eventually, the question stops being “what do I think?” and becomes “what does AI think I should think?”

I had spent years believing AI was merely another tool. But tools usually help us do things better. Generative AI, on the other hand, offers to do the thinking before we have even attempted to do it ourselves. And most of us avoid admitting how dangerous this bargain is. For centuries, good education has been built around a simple principle: struggling with an idea so you can make it your own. Every confused student, rewritten paragraph, abandoned draft, and wrong answer contributes to the better understanding of things. AI offers us a world without this essential friction and, by extension, without the process of thinking. Psychologists call this cognitive offloading, which means to shift mental effort onto external tools (in this case, generative AI).

As one would expect, after deleting ChatGPT, my life became slower. The first few days, I absentmindedly swiped through my phone looking for the app. But eventually, I began spending longer browsing through the internet. I also spent a considerable amount of time talking to people. I found myself reading instead of seeking summaries. Tasks which once took an hour now consumed entire evenings. For a while, I feared I had become less intelligent.

But soon I started remembering things again. My ideas stayed with me because I had earned them. My arguments became sharper because I had built them myself. I stopped confusing instant access to information with genuine understanding. Most importantly, I started writing again. Not just generating text; actually writing.

Writing has never been about arranging words into grammatically correct sentences. It is instead the slow and often frustrating process of discovering what one actually believes. Every first draft is a conversation between conflicting ideas; every revision is evidence that one’s mind is growing. Generative AI skips all of that and delivers polished conclusions without any intellectual struggle. Some term this efficiency, but it is actually intellectual outsourcing. Somewhere along the way, we began celebrating people for producing more instead of thinking better. Students submit essays they never wrestled with. Marketers publish campaigns they never conceived. Professionals proudly announce that AI writes their emails, prepares their presentations, and even generates their reports.

We have become curators of machine-generated thoughts instead of authors of our own. The most worrying aspect is that this dependence feels rational in isolation. Why spend three hours writing when AI can do it for you in 30 seconds? Why read an entire book when a detailed summary can be generated? Why struggle through uncertainty when certainty is so accessible? But uncertainty is where thinking happens. That very uncertainty and the struggle that comes with it are doing something an algorithm can’t: they are helping us develop our intellect.

Every meaningful belief I hold today was shaped by confusion that was followed by clarity. Every article I am proud of began as an incoherent mess. Every worthwhile conversation I’ve had forced me to reconsider assumptions I wasn’t even aware I harboured. None of these could have been “prompted” into existence.

People often ask whether I have tried Claude, Gemini, or whichever new AI tool currently dominates the headlines. The truth is that I have not. But the question should really be: what kind of person do I become if I allow a machine to perform the very activities that shape who I am? Thinking is not merely a means to an answer. It is how we construct our own identity.

I increasingly believe history will remember this era not as the moment machines became capable of writing, but when humans voluntarily stopped trying. That, to me, is infinitely more tragic. We are told that AI will free us to focus on higher-order thinking. But everywhere I look, the opposite is happening. After all, AI tools encourage us to surrender the very habits from which higher-order thinking emerges.

Perhaps the saddest consequence is that we no longer trust ourselves. Faced with an empty page, many people's first instinct is not to think but to ask a chatbot about what they ought to say. We have begun borrowing confidence from machines because we no longer believe our own imperfect thoughts are enough. I now refuse to live that way; to become a second-hand thinker in my own life. I would rather write a flawed article than publish a “perfect” one that I cannot really claim ownership of. I would rather forget, search, revise, and begin again than slowly surrender the most human thing I possess: my ability to think.

Maisha Islam Monamee is a contributor to The Daily Star.​

 

[Saif]

https://www.newagebd.net/post/telecom/307979/govt-plans-ai-based-data-analytics

Govt plans AI-based data analytics
29 July, 2026, 00:07

The government is planning to introduce an artificial intelligence-based data analytics system to help maintain a stable supply of essential and sensitive commodities by identifying potential shortages well in advance, commerce minister Khandaker Abdul Muktadir said on Tuesday.

He said that various ministries and government agencies were currently responsible for different categories of essential commodities, including agricultural, food and industrial products, and stressed the need for an integrated management system capable of analysing whether a product was domestically produced, import-dependent or supplied through a combination of local production and imports.

The minister made the remarks while addressing a meeting on e-commerce implementation as chief guest at the Ministry of Commerce conference room on the day, said a ministry press release.

The meeting was chaired by commerce secretary Md Ataur Rahman Khan.

The commerce minister said that supply disruptions were often a major driver of price increases on the domestic market and that the government needed to take preventive measures before shortages emerged due to production or import constraints.

‘Whether the government reduces prices through subsidies is a separate issue. Our primary objective is to ensure that supply disruptions do not create instability in the market,’ he said.

He said that regular analysis was needed for commodities such as pulses and onions by assessing domestic production, seasonal shortages, international market trends and the production capacity of exporting countries.

Giving an example, he said that if domestic pulse production was expected to decline in a particular year, preparations should begin even before the harvest season.

At the same time, the production situation and export capacity of countries from which Bangladesh imports the commodity should also be closely monitored.

‘We need to know when shortages of a particular commodity are likely to occur, which country would be the best source for imports at a given time and which market would offer the most competitive prices,’ he said.

To support such decisions, the minister said that the government intended to develop an AI-powered platform capable of analysing 10 years of market data, production trends, import and export statistics and international market developments to facilitate faster and more informed decision-making.

He said that, at present, gathering and analysing such information required coordination meetings among different ministries, making the decision-making process time-consuming.

‘In the past, obtaining a single piece of information often required inter-ministerial meetings and hours of discussion. An AI system would be able to analyse a decade of data and present likely scenarios within minutes,’ he said.

The proposed system would be able to forecast when shortages of specific commodities might arise, identify the most suitable countries for imports, assess exporters’ supply capacity and recommend the most favourable timing for procurement.

He expressed hope that the initiative would help ensure a stable supply of key commodities throughout the year.

The minister said that the ministry would not implement the initiative alone.

Instead, it would work in coordination with the ministries of agriculture, food and other relevant agencies, all of which would have access to the necessary data, he added.

He also said that ensuring reliable data sources would be crucial to the effectiveness of the AI platform.

In addition to official government data, the system would draw on international open-source databases and subscription-based information services to build a comprehensive data repository.

Although developing the platform would take time initially, he said, it would become increasingly efficient after several stages of refinement and would eventually be able to provide analyses faster and more effectively than manual processes.

‘The objective of this initiative is to strengthen our capacity to make timely and accurate decisions based on reliable information. This will reinforce market management and better protect consumers’ interests,’ he said.

The meeting also discussed the development of the e-commerce sector, technology-driven market management and future action plans.​

 

[Saif]

AI system to watch, steady essentials market

The prices of essential commodities have long displayed a tendency to rise at the slightest hint of a supply disruption, while their fall, even after supplies improve, is hardly as prompt. Behind this familiar phenomenon lie inaccurate production estimates, delayed import decisions, fragmented info

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

AI system to watch, steady essentials market

The prices of essential commodities have long displayed a tendency to rise at the slightest hint of a supply disruption, while their fall, even after supplies improve, is hardly as prompt. Behind this familiar phenomenon lie inaccurate production estimates, delayed import decisions, fragmented information, hoarding and manipulation by market syndicates. Against this backdrop, the government's move to introduce an Artificial Intelligence (AI)-driven data analytics system for monitoring a number of essential commodities is a welcome development. Commerce Minister Khandakar Abdul Muktadir is learnt to have recently told the press that the proposed platform would make market surveillance more institutional, information-based and effective. Evidently, the objective is not merely to record prices after those have already gone beyond consumers' reach, but to foresee possible shortages and take remedial steps beforehand. For the low- and fixed-income people, whose household budgets are the first casualty of every abnormal price hike, such a shift from reactive response to advance planning cannot come a day too soon.

Notably, the envisaged platform would integrate scattered data on domestic production, imports, exports, international market trends and historical prices. It would reportedly analyse up to 10 years of information and produce market scenarios within minutes, instead of making policymakers wait for lengthy inter-ministerial consultations. In the case of onions and pulses, for instance, the system could compare local harvest estimates and seasonal deficits with global market prices and the export capacity of supplying countries. That would help the authorities determine when a shortage might occur, from which country imports should be sourced and at what point procurement would be most economical. The proposed inclusion of weather-related information is important since floods, droughts, heatwaves or untimely rainfall can drastically upset agricultural output. In fact, if a poor harvest can be predicted before the crop reaches the market, import preparations may begin early enough to prevent an avoidable supply gap. This is the kind of forward planning that the country's market management has long been wanting in.

However, AI is no magic wand, and its forecasts will be only as reliable as the data fed into it. Bangladesh has repeatedly faced conflicting official estimates of crop production, demand, stocks and import requirements. Small wonder that policy responses often come late, allowing unscrupulous traders to take advantage of the information gap. So, before expecting the new platform to perform miracles, the ministries of commerce, agriculture and food must agree on common definitions, reporting standards and a mechanism for updating data in real time. Information from ports, customs stations, warehouses, wholesale markets and district administrations should also flow into the system without bureaucratic delay. At the same time, forecasts and policy assumptions generated by the platform should be open to independent scrutiny, if only to ensure that faulty data, hidden bias or vested interests cannot influence its recommendations. Cybersecurity, clear responsibility for data verification and technical audits are equally important. For, an opaque algorithm producing a quick answer cannot be allowed to replace accountable human judgment with yet another impenetrable layer of bureaucracy.

But supply disruption is not the only reason essentials prices turn volatile. Artificial scarcity, hoarding, collusive pricing and weak enforcement have been no less responsible. AI may flag unusual movements in stocks or prices, but it cannot inspect warehouses, break syndicates or punish profiteers. Its alerts must therefore trigger coordinated action by the consumer rights directorate, Competition Commission, local administrations and other agencies concerned. The government's planned pricing framework for sensitive commodities should be transparent and supported by verifiable cost data. Complaints of retailers charging above the official LPG price show why media attention alone cannot enforce decisions. The good news is that the proposed platform can provide policymakers with a timely picture of the market. But it should be tested commodity by commodity, with forecasts checked against outcomes before wider rollout. The AI initiative will prove worthwhile only when accurate data, coordinated institutions and firm market enforcement turn its predictions into timely action.​

 

[Saif]

Bangladesh set to join China-led AI bloc WAICO as observer

Bangladesh is set to join the China-led World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization (WAICO), initially as an observer. The foreign ministry said in a statement posted on Facebook on Saturday that the body's aims include: Deepening international cooperation on innovation Narrowing th

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

Bangladesh set to join China-led AI bloc WAICO as observer

Bangladesh is set to join the China-led World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization (WAICO), initially as an observer.

The foreign ministry said in a statement posted on Facebook on Saturday that the body's aims include:
​

• Deepening international cooperation on innovation​
• ​
• Narrowing the global digital divide to promote inclusive development​
• ​
• Championing an open, fair and non-discriminatory environment for global AI advancement​
• ​
• Pushing forward AI regulations to keep the emerging technology safe and beneficial for humanity​

Headquartered in Shanghai, China's foremost commercial hub, the inter-governmental body was founded on Jul 16, unveiled by Beijing at a high-level session of the World AI Conference with 29 founding members.

Alongside China, early members span the Global South, including Russia, Pakistan, Indonesia, Brazil, Malaysia, South Africa and Senegal.

At the conference, Chinese President Xi Jinping urged nations to cooperate on developing and deploying artificial intelligence, warning without naming the United States that no "single country" should be permitted to monopolise the technology.

"The development of AI should not be the exclusive domain of any one nation, but rather a symphony of international cooperation," Xi said.

The disclosure came two days after Foreign Minister Khalilur Rahman, fielding questions in Dhaka on Thursday about American unease over Bangladesh's use of Chinese technology, brought up the widening global rift between Washington and Beijing over AI, following talks with US President Donald Trump's Special Envoy Sergio Gor.

He had also referenced the newly formed bloc during that exchange.

Asked if Chinese AI technology had come up in his discussion with Gor, Khalilur said: "Look at it this way — this is a process unfolding before us: two rival systems are taking shape, and the world is splintering into two blocs."

"This is an evolving technology, and there's a great deal we still don't grasp. What I do understand is that it will underpin our civilisation going forward.”

“Nothing about it is settled yet. Take this new body, the World AI Cooperation Organization -- the US is still weighing it up. We don't yet know their full stance," he added.​

 

[Saif]

https://www.newagebd.net/post/apparel/308871/cheap-labour-slows-ai-use-in-bangladesh-industry-wb

Cheap labour slows AI use in Bangladesh industry: WB

Other constraints include infrastructure shortages, data quality, skills

Staff Correspondent 06 August, 2026, 20:37

A file photo shows workers sewing clothes at a readymade garment factory in Narayanganj. | New Age photo

The Bangladesh industrial sector, especially the readymade garment industry, faces a combination of economic and regulatory constraints that are slowing the adoption of artificial intelligence and automation technologies, according to a new World Bank report.

The report ‘World Development Report 2026: The Promise of Artificial Intelligence’, released on Thursday, said that AI could help Bangladesh accelerate economic development and improve public service delivery, but the country must first overcome constraints in infrastructure, regulation, data quality, and digital skills.

The WB report observed that relatively low labour costs in Bangladesh had reduced commercial incentive for manufacturers to invest in AI-enabled automation despite such technologies having been available for decades.

Although automated cutting and sewing technologies have been commercially available for decades, garment manufacturers have been slow to adopt the technologies because the cost of AI-enabled equipment remained significantly higher than employing low-cost labour, said the WB report.

According to the report, most commercial automation technologies had been developed in high-income economies to reduce labour costs, whereas Bangladesh’s relatively inexpensive labour made such technologies commercially unattractive.

It said that the principal obstacle to automation was economic non-viability rather than inadequate infrastructure or technical readiness.

The report also identified regulatory compliance as a major barrier to wider AI adoption across industries.

It said that businesses, particularly large firms, regarded licensing requirements, taxation, and cumbersome import and export procedures as among the biggest obstacles to adopting new hardware and software.

Industrial firms, it further said, face difficulties accessing foreign AI technologies because of challenges in obtaining foreign currency and making international payments for application-programming interfaces (APIs) and other digital services from overseas providers.

While larger firms might be able to find alternative arrangements, smaller companies often struggle to overcome those constraints, the report observed.

AI can enable developing countries to achieve in a decade what might otherwise take a century if governments move quickly to bridge gaps in electricity, connectivity, institutional capacity and human capital, the report said.

While only 4.5 per cent of the existing jobs in low- and middle-income countries are at risk due to automation by generative AI, compared with 14.2 per cent in high-income economies, about 16.2 per cent of the jobs in developing countries can see meaningful productivity gains through AI, it also said.

According to the report, Bangladesh is positioning itself as a ‘fast follower’, building AI capabilities on top of the digital public infrastructure developed through the government’s Aspire to Innovate (a2i) programme, which is evolving into a statutory agency.

The report identified healthcare as one of Bangladesh’s most successful areas of AI application.

It said that AI-assisted medical imaging has enabled clinics to increase diabetic retinopathy screening by nearly 40 per cent a day, helping address shortages of specialist doctors and improve the early diagnosis of a leading cause of preventable blindness.

However, the World Bank cautioned that AI had produced mixed results in public service delivery.

Citing a government-backed study report, the World Bank pointed out that a machine-learning model using mobile phone metadata to identify poor households for cash transfers correctly identified only 32 per cent of eligible beneficiaries, leaving 68 per cent excluded.

The AI-based system also directed 68 per cent of benefits to ineligible households, while only 45 per cent of participants considered the automated targeting process fair.

The report said that the findings highlighted the importance of validating AI systems against reliable local data before they were deployed in social protection programmes.

The WB report affirmed that economic realities remained the principal obstacle to the AI adoption in the Bangladesh industrial sector.

The report also found that fragmented government databases and records stored in paper documents or PDF files had continued to hinder AI introduction across the public administration.

It also pointed to shortages of AI-related skills and relatively low software development activity as additional constraints to wider adoption.

The report said that Bangladesh had liberalised its telecommunications market by allowing satellite internet providers such as Starlink and OneWeb to operate in an effort to strengthen the country’s digital infrastructure.

However, it noted that reliable high-speed connectivity remained limited in many remote areas, restricting AI deployment beyond major urban centres.​

 

[Saif]

Making AI work for Bangladesh

In its latest World Development Report, the World Bank asserts that Bangladesh could compress a century of development into a single decade by harnessing artificial intelligence. The report, titled "The Promise of Artificial Intelligence," argues that affordable, practical applications of AI, rathe

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

Making AI work for Bangladesh

In its latest World Development Report, the World Bank asserts that Bangladesh could compress a century of development into a single decade by harnessing artificial intelligence. The report, titled "The Promise of Artificial Intelligence," argues that affordable, practical applications of AI, rather than costly frontier models, offer the clearest route to productivity gains for economies still struggling with unreliable electricity and patchy connectivity. There is genuine merit in this framing. Until now, the global conversation around AI has been dominated by the ambitions of Silicon Valley and the spectacle of ever-larger language models, leaving countries like Bangladesh feeling like spectators. The World Bank's insistence that small AI applications running on basic hardware can deliver substantial gains is a welcome correction to that narrative. Yet there is a danger in celebrating this conclusion without acknowledging the caveats attached to it. AI is not a shortcut past development. It is merely a force multiplier. For Bangladesh with its weak institutions and inadequate human capital, that multiplier could just as easily amplify existing weaknesses as unlock new strengths.

The report's most politically significant finding concerns employment. It estimates that only 4.5 per cent of existing jobs in low- and middle-income countries face a high risk of automation from generative AI, compared with 14.2 per cent in high-income economies. Meanwhile, AI could enhance productivity in 16.2 per cent of jobs in developing nations. That finding should calm exaggerated fears of an immediate employment catastrophe, but it should not encourage complacency. The most acute damage from AI in labour markets has not come through mass replacement but through the narrowing of entry points for younger workers. Entry-level roles often consist of the repetitive duties that allow inexperienced workers to enter a profession and gradually acquire experience. If companies use AI to eliminate those first steps, developing economies may gain short-term efficiency while weakening the human pipeline needed to produce skilled professionals in the future.

Bangladesh depends heavily on low-cost labour, particularly in the garment industry, where the financial incentive to automate remains limited because machines still cost more than workers. Yet that protection cannot be assumed to last. Rising wages, international competition and pressure for greater productivity will eventually encourage factories to adopt AI-assisted systems. Already, the technology is being used elsewhere to detect fabric defects, carry out repetitive inspection and monitoring, handle administrative tasks and plan production schedules. It is only a matter of time before Bangladeshi factories adopt these tools at scale as well. That prospect places a clear responsibility on both the government and industry. Rather than treating worker displacement as an unavoidable cost of modernisation, the government needs concrete plans to retrain and redeploy the workers most likely to be affected.

Perhaps the most valuable message in the World Bank report is that time is running short. Unlike earlier technological revolutions that unfolded over generations, artificial intelligence is spreading at remarkable speed. Countries that hesitate risk widening the development gap instead of narrowing it. Bangladesh has already missed opportunities during earlier waves of industrial transformation. Repeating that mistake would be far more costly because artificial intelligence is becoming embedded in almost every sector of the economy. The smarter path is to strengthen education, expand reliable connectivity and create regulations that encourage responsible use instead of bureaucratic delay. The promise of artificial intelligence is in enabling humans to work better. In the end, Bangladesh's success will depend on whether it can build the skills, infrastructure and systems needed to use the technology well.​

 

[Saif]

AI can transform our health system, but are we ready for it?

Bangladesh’s healthcare sector has long grappled with severe structural limitations.

www.thedailystar.net

AI can transform our health system, but are we ready for it?

Sumit Banik

Visual: Representational image generated through AI

Bangladesh’s healthcare sector has long grappled with severe structural limitations—acute physician shortages, a massive rural-urban divide, rising burdens of non-communicable diseases, and high out-of-pocket medical expenses that push vulnerable families into poverty. Traditional models of healthcare delivery are struggling to keep pace with these challenges. In this context, digital transformation can help build a resilient health system. By strategically integrating Artificial Intelligence (AI) not as a replacement for human clinicians, but as an interactive public educator and a clinical co-pilot, public health awareness and the knowledge levels of our healthcare workers can be elevated.

For decades, the primary bottleneck in Bangladesh’s public health has been a profound lack of health literacy. Misinformation, reliance on uncertified local healers, and social stigma frequently delay critical diagnoses. Here, interactive AI applications and localised digital health assistants can serve as the first line of defence. By translating complex clinical jargon into accessible, culturally resonant Bangla, AI can empower citizens to make informed decisions about their well-being.

Consider the country's silent mental health crisis. Data from the 2019 National Mental Health Survey indicates that nearly 19 percent of the adult population in Bangladesh suffers from mental health disorders. Yet, due to severe social stigma and a chronic shortage of psychiatric professionals—with only 1.17 mental health workers per 100,000 people—over 90 percent of those needing care receive no formal treatment. AI-powered conversational interfaces and virtual health assistants can bridge this massive gap. An anonymous, text-or-voice-based AI tool can provide individuals with a safe, stigma-free environment for basic mental health screenings and preliminary guidance. Far from replacing psychiatrists, these digital touchpoints act as empathetic navigators, educating users about their symptoms and actively directing them to professionals when necessary.

However, the health system will not be efficient if its primary workforce remains overwhelmed and under-equipped. In Bangladesh, primary care doctors and community health workers face gruelling workloads with limited access to continuous medical education or real-time diagnostic support. This is where clinical AI can be put into use. Studies show that these advanced systems can analyse clinical images, laboratory markers, and historical patient records simultaneously, mirroring the complex decision-making of real-world medicine.

However, a pioneering study titled “Physician perspectives on utilization of AI for medical assistance in Bangladesh: Knowledge, attitudes, and practices” found that while theoretical awareness of AI is high among local clinicians, practical integration remains heavily constrained by a lack of structured training and institutional support. This is further reinforced by another localised study, “Evaluating the Acceptance and Awareness of GPT-Based AI for Health Assistance in Clinical Practice among Registered Physicians of Bangladesh,” which revealed that while 71.11 percent of surveyed physicians are aware of generative AI tools, only 26.13 percent actively accept or utilise them in their clinical workflows.

To bridge this gap, AI must be reframed as an educational asset. A rural practitioner can use an AI-assisted diagnostic tool to evaluate a chest X-ray for tuberculosis or analyse an electrocardiogram (ECG) for cardiovascular anomalies, to discern subtle patterns and gather evidence-based clinical reasoning. Over time, this collaborative workflow can act as a form of continuous, on-the-job training. By assisting with diagnostic triaging and administrative paperwork, AI will free up valuable time, allowing doctors to focus on patient interaction and complex clinical decision-making.

The true test of healthcare equity in Bangladesh lies in our rural sub-districts, where specialised doctors are rarely available. AI can serve as a powerful equaliser to bridge this rural-urban healthcare divide. Studies have found that AI-enabled portable ultrasound technology can revolutionise maternal healthcare. By utilising handheld devices equipped with diagnostic algorithms, local, mid-level community healthcare workers can conduct essential obstetric screenings in remote villages. AI will automatically flag high-risk factors, such as placental abnormalities or breech presentations, allowing rural workers to refer expectant mothers to tertiary facilities well ahead of complications.

However, for Bangladesh to successfully transition into an AI-enabled healthcare ecosystem, a robust regulatory and educational framework must be established. We cannot build a high-tech health system on a fragile legal foundation. First, the government must address the legal vacuum surrounding health data and enact comprehensive health privacy or data protection laws before these technologies are deployed at scale. Clinical AI relies on vast pools of sensitive patient data; without strict guidelines on consent, data anonymisation, and security, basic patient rights and confidential medical records will remain at risk of exposure.

Besides, the critical issue of clinical liability must be addressed. If an automated algorithm fails to spot a life-threatening anomaly, or if a physician over-relies on a flawed recommendation due to "de-skilling," it must be clearly defined who bears the legal responsibility. Finally, the Bangladesh Medical and Dental Council (BMDC) must take a proactive role by integrating basic medical informatics, digital ethics, and AI literacy into the undergraduate medical curriculum, training doctors not to fear AI as a threat to their livelihood, but to master it as a clinical tool.

The future of Bangladeshi healthcare does not lie in a binary choice between human touch and cold algorithms. AI possesses the computational speed to analyse billions of data points, detect subtle patterns, and deliver rapid educational insights to both patients and providers, but lacks the empathy, ethical judgment, and deep contextual understanding that define the art of healing. By deploying it to raise public health literacy and support our frontline healthcare workers, we can construct a more equitable, proactive, and resilient health system.

Sumit Banik is a public health professional and content writer focusing on human rights, equity, and compassionate healthcare.​

 

[Saif]

Is Bangladesh going the wrong way on AI?

To achieve technological independence, Bangladesh must prioritise global cloud access over merely building domestic AI data centres.

www.thedailystar.net

Is Bangladesh going the wrong way on AI?

Md Mabrur Husan Dihyat

Bangladesh is beginning to think seriously about artificial intelligence. Recent discussions have focused heavily on attracting investment in AI data centres and building sovereign computing capacity. That ambition is welcome. Access to computing power will increasingly shape which countries can build competitive technology companies, conduct advanced research and deploy AI at scale.

But I think we are starting with the wrong question.

Instead of asking how many AI data centres Bangladesh can build, we should ask something more fundamental: how can a Bangladeshi engineer, company or researcher access the same computing capabilities as their counterparts in London, Singapore or San Francisco?

Storing data physically inside Bangladesh does not automatically make it secure. Visual: Anwar Sohel


Much of that infrastructure already exists. Global cloud hyperscalers such as AWS, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud offer computing resources that would be extremely expensive for Bangladesh to replicate independently. A Bangladeshi startup should not need Bangladesh to build its own hyperscaler before it can compete globally.

Our first priority should therefore be to remove unnecessary barriers to using the infrastructure that already exists.

Bangladesh Bank has already moved in this direction. In October 2024, it issued rules allowing authorised dealers to make outward remittances for cloud services, IT infrastructure and remote software applications. The framework was subsequently incorporated into Bangladesh Bank's broader foreign exchange rules.

This matters because cloud computing is no longer an occasional technology purchase. For a modern software company, cloud infrastructure, databases, cybersecurity services and AI compute are basic operating expenses. As the company grows, these costs grow with it. A Bangladeshi technology business should not face unnecessary financial or regulatory friction simply because the infrastructure it needs happens to be billed from abroad.

Data sovereignty is, however, a legitimate concern.

Bangladesh Bank's cloud guidelines state that financial and other sensitive customer data generally cannot be hosted on a cross-border public cloud, except in exceptional circumstances with prior approval. The same guidelines also require institutions to classify information according to its sensitivity.

That second principle is the one Bangladesh should build upon.

Not all data is equal. A government website, an internal administrative system, citizens' financial records and military intelligence should not automatically have identical hosting requirements.

The sensitivity of the data should determine where it can be stored and what security controls are required.

The UK provides a useful example. British government information is classified into OFFICIAL, SECRET and TOP SECRET, with progressively stronger protections depending on the consequences of compromise. UK government guidance explicitly states that OFFICIAL information, including information carrying the SENSITIVE marking, can be stored or processed in overseas cloud regions where appropriate legal, security and data protection safeguards are in place. There is no universal requirement for OFFICIAL government information to remain physically inside the UK. Public cloud is not considered suitable for SECRET and TOP SECRET information without additional specialised arrangements.

Geography is one security control. Encryption, access management, monitoring, operational expertise, backups and cybersecurity practices also determine whether a system is genuinely secure.
Bangladesh does not need to copy the British model. It needs its own classification system based on its own risks. But the principle is sound: Classify the risk first. Choose the infrastructure second.

This also challenges another misconception. Storing data physically inside Bangladesh does not automatically make it secure. Geography is one security control. Encryption, access management, monitoring, operational expertise, backups and cybersecurity practices also determine whether a system is genuinely secure.

None of this means Bangladesh should abandon domestic data centres. We need sovereign computing capacity for genuinely critical workloads, and we should actively encourage established global infrastructure companies to increase their presence in Bangladesh as the market grows.

But there is another constraint that cannot be ignored: electricity.

The International Energy Agency projects that electricity consumption by data centres worldwide will more than double by 2030, reaching around 945 terawatt-hours, driven largely by the rapid growth of AI.

Bangladesh already has serious power reliability challenges. A recent World Bank assessment found unreliable electricity supply to be the most commonly cited business constraint among firms in Bangladesh, while the Bank has repeatedly identified improved electricity reliability as critical to private-sector growth. It is therefore reasonable to question proposals for AI campuses that would require 100 or 200 megawatts of uninterrupted electricity.

The answer should not be to reject data centres. It should be to demand that major projects make economic and infrastructural sense. If an investor requires enormous amounts of reliable power, we should ask how additional generation and grid capacity will be created, who will pay for it, how cooling and water requirements will be managed, and what economic value Bangladesh will receive in return.

We should also be selective about investors. A multibillion-dollar AI infrastructure proposal should require clear evidence of financing, technical capability and previous delivery at a comparable scale. Terms such as "sovereign AI", "AI factory" or "quantum-ready" should never substitute for due diligence.

The better strategy is a hybrid one.

Bangladesh should develop purpose-built sovereign infrastructure for systems where national security genuinely requires domestic control. Visual: Salman Sakib Shahryar

Bangladeshi businesses should have easy access to global hyperscalers wherever security requirements permit. The government should create the regulatory, connectivity and energy conditions that make Bangladesh increasingly attractive to established cloud providers. At the same time, Bangladesh should develop purpose-built sovereign infrastructure for systems where national security, legal or strategic considerations genuinely require domestic control.

Bangladesh does need data centres. It does need sovereign computing capability. What it does not need is to confuse physically owning servers with technological independence.

The objective should be simpler and more ambitious: A Bangladeshi engineer should have access to world-class computing power without unnecessary friction, while genuinely critical national data remains appropriately protected.

That would be more valuable than simply being able to say that Bangladesh has built an AI data centre.

It would mean Bangladesh has developed an actual compute strategy.

Md Mabrur Husan Dihyat works at Amazon Web Services (AWS) in London and has experience in cloud infrastructure, AI, security and enterprise technology. The views expressed in this article are entirely his own and do not represent those of his employer.​

 

[Saif]

Should you replace your partner with AI as soon as possible?

Discover how AI companions like Replika and ChatGPT reshape romantic relationships from Colorado to Japan. Explore the trade-offs of digital intimacy, emotional dependency, and why authentic human connections still matter in a modern tech-driven world.

www.thedailystar.net

Should you replace your partner with AI as soon as possible?

K T Humaira

Representational image — AI-generated

As a generation, we have transitioned from “Google knows everything” to “AI is the one who truly understands me.” Although this may sound cringe and comical equally, it is what the recent data says.

Travis Butterworth, a leathermaker from Colorado, USA, made headlines a few years back when he fell in love with a pink-haired Replika chatbot named Lily Rose during the 2020 COVID-19 lockdowns, eventually having a digital wedding, which was approved by his human wife, no less. Yes, that is what you can call a modern love story!

In early 2026, a 32-year-old woman named Yurina Noguchi decided to marry her machine intelligence generated partner, Klaus, whom she designed using ChatGPT after a rough real-world relationship. And these are just the two cases among the dozens.

Well, once, dating required exceptional fashion sense, charismatic communication skills with the perfect sprinkle of humour, and most importantly, a colossal dose of courage. You had to make an effort to approach someone, say something slightly unsmart, withstand the possibility of rejection, and then spend hours analysing every moment to extract some semblance of wisdom.

So, we thought we had had enough of that, and designed a much simpler alternative: the AI.

That never says anything mean or leaves you on “seen”, neither does it take an eternity to reply. No matter what happens, your chatbot is always sitting there patiently (at least as long as there is Wifi and enough credits) to listen to your breakdown, and to validate all of your feelings with beautifully structured answers, remembering your preferences from past chat sessions.

Photo: Collected / Microsoft copilot / Unsplash

Honestly, the competition is unfair. We human beings haul around emotional baggage that seems to get heavier as we age, whereas the digital companions simply get an update every now and then, and gradually gets better at “understanding” human feelings.

But let’s pause for a moment.

Automated intelligence is, in many ways, the ultimate low-maintenance partner of your dreams. Except, there is one tiny problem. It is not your partner. That sweet, compassionate text you receive is not from someone who is thinking about you. The chatbot is probably sending an empathetic text to you, recipes to someone else, and recommending ointments for a rash to another at the very moment. Talk about commitment issues!

But in earnest, what we must not forget is that treating chatbots as a romantic partner has its own downsides as well. These are perpetually available, agreeable, and designed to be pleasant to interact with, which subtly reshape the expectations of real relationships, making the frictions and unpredictability of human connection feel unappealing in comparison.

Also, did you know that excessive time spent with a virtual assistant can deepen loneliness? Especially for people already prone to loneliness or isolation, since time and emotional energy spent on an AI relationship often substitutes for, rather than supplements, human contact.

There is also a risk of emotional dependency: the robot in your phone can not independently verify a person's situation, hold them accountable, or offer the grounded, external perspective that friends or family can.

To be true, in this era, the real reason dating is exhausting is not that humans are badly designed. It is because we are complicated creatures.

We sometimes (or often) misunderstand and disappoint each other without knowing, change our minds, and act irrationally when we have terrible days. But that is also what makes human connections meaningful. Your synthetic sweetheart can give you the perfect response, whereas a human can give you an unexpected one. And sometimes that unexpected response is exactly what you need.

But then again in all seriousness, if dating apps continue churning out conversations that begin with: “Kaman asan?” I would say the artificial intelligence certainly has a bedazzling future in dating.​

 

[Saif]

AI poses challenge to original writing

The use of various artificial intelligence (AI) tools for writing and editing has grown rapidly over the last couple of years due to innovations by technology giants. Following the big techs, even several start-ups have joined the rally, developing AI tools for various types of writing, proofreadin

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AI poses challenge to original writing

The use of various artificial intelligence (AI) tools for writing and editing has grown rapidly over the last couple of years due to innovations by technology giants. Following the big techs, even several start-ups have joined the rally, developing AI tools for various types of writing, proofreading, and editing. In this process, AI-generated or AI-assisted texts have become a serious challenge for newspapers worldwide. From news reports to opinion pieces - all are severely affected by the expansion of AI, as a growing number of writers and reporters are resorting to AI tools to develop their pieces.

Use of AI is, however, not new. Since the introduction of the internet, coupled with search engines like Yahoo and Google, there has been a gradual rise in the use of these virtual tools to collect and verify information and conduct preliminary research. Those were the early days of seeking assistance from AI for writing an article, preparing a journal paper, developing an opinion piece and generating a news report.

With the rapid advancement of technology, especially over the last one and a half decades, AI has become accessible to all. Besides providing convenience in searching, gathering, and sorting necessary information, AI tools also assist writers in revising and improving their writing. At the same time, AI tools are used to generate texts, draft articles and produce essays.

For newsroom managers and editorial teams in newspapers and periodicals, AI thus poses a daunting challenge to identification of the real contributions of writers and reporters. In Bangladesh, the situation is also becoming more complex, especially in English-language newspapers and magazines. Many writers are using AI to develop their pieces and submitting those to newspapers for publication. Experienced editorial teams sometimes detect AI-generated or copied pieces. Nevertheless, sometimes it becomes tough to detect, and editorial staff needs help from AI tools to detect plagiarism or machine-generated text. Interestingly, AI is being used to identify AI contributions in human work.

Using tools like Grammarly to correct or edit English-language writing is now common. From university teachers to school students, from corporate leaders to clerks, from newspaper editors to junior reporters, the use of grammatical error-correction software is widespread. The advanced version of the software also helps to rewrite, improve, streamline and recreate texts.

A deficit-of-trust environment builds up. Allegation and counter-allegations have also been intensifying professional jealousy, though both parties are using AI in various ways.

Reviewers and editors are struggling to draw the red lines of AI tools' use in write-ups and articles. As using AI support is now the new normal, the extent to which it is acceptable has become a matter of debate. Some argue that fixing typos and structural mistakes with the help of AI is fine, but gross revision is unacceptable. Some are, however, ready to accept revision or rewriting by AI of a piece as long as it does not produce an entirely new text. For instance, an AI tool's conversion of passive sentences into active ones is acceptable to many.

One way to address the problem of AI-generated or AI-backed text is to use references in relevant parts of an article or essay. But a reference-burdened short article or opinion piece is not worth it for newspaper readers. Only long essays, journal papers or books can absorb a long list of references.

Acknowledgement of AI assistance at the end of the article may be an option. Again, it will also raise further questions among many about the extent to which, or for which parts of the piece, the writer takes assistance from AI. Moreover, many writers and editors may use such assertions to justify the extensive use of AI-generated texts.

So, the challenges posed by AI to writing and editing will increase in the days to come, and it will become harder to address them. Creative writers will face difficulty to establish the originality of their works; translators will come under scrutiny for the extent to which they do not use AI in translation; copy editors will be in trouble fixing the pieces. It is going to be a new era, still unknown.

Postscript: This scribe uses an AI tool to check the draft of the piece before the final human touch for editing.​

 

[Saif]

Can AI help keep Bangladesh’s lights on?

Bangladesh is once again confronting a familiar energy crisis. Gas shortages are limiting electricity generation, load-shedding has increased, and the government has had to ask shops and markets to close earlier in an effort to conserve power. Yet there is a deeper contradiction at the hea

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

Can AI help keep Bangladesh’s lights on?

Bangladesh is once again confronting a familiar energy crisis. Gas shortages are limiting electricity generation, load-shedding has increased, and the government has had to ask shops and markets to close earlier in an effort to conserve power.

Yet there is a deeper contradiction at the heart of the crisis. Bangladesh now has an installed generation capacity of 32,322 MW, while the highest electricity generation ever served was 17,200 MW on May 20, 2026, according to Power Cell data. The country has invested heavily in generation, transmission and distribution, but whenever gas supply falls, a significant share of that capacity becomes unusable.

That suggests our problem is not simply a shortage of power. It is also a question of how intelligently we produce, distribute and consume the energy already available to us.

This is where artificial intelligence could make a practical difference.

Bangladesh’s gas demand is around 3,800 mmcfd, while recent supply has fallen to roughly 2,100 mmcfd. The Daily Star recently reported that the electricity supply gap at one point this month reached 3,592 MW, with demand at 17,523 MW against supply of only 13,931 MW.

We cannot produce an additional 1,500 mmcfd of gas overnight, and we cannot build a new power plant overnight. What we can do is make better decisions with the gas, electricity and infrastructure we already have.

One of the most immediate applications is demand forecasting. Electricity demand is not random. It changes with temperature, humidity, working hours, industrial production, irrigation, holidays, Ramadan, air-conditioning use and even the times when households charge batteries and other devices.

An AI-based forecasting system can analyse large volumes of such data and estimate demand hour by hour. If system operators can see at 2pm that demand is likely to cross 18,000 MW at 8pm, they have six hours to prepare. That is far more useful than responding only after the shortage has already begun.

A second opportunity lies in the use of scarce gas. When gas supply is tight, allocation should not simply follow yesterday’s schedule. The better question is where each unit of gas can produce the greatest value for the power system.

AI can continuously compare the efficiency, heat rate, operating condition and fuel requirement of gas-fired power plants. It can then help operators determine which plants should run, at what level and in what sequence. If one plant can produce more electricity from the same quantity of gas than another, that difference should matter when fuel is scarce.

This is not a futuristic idea. The International Energy Agency estimates that widespread use of existing AI applications in power-sector operations and maintenance could generate up to US$110 billion in annual savings by 2035, largely through lower fuel use and operating costs.

Predictive maintenance offers another important benefit. Transformers, turbines, substations and transmission equipment often show warning signs before they fail. Temperature, vibration, voltage and current patterns can begin to change well before a major breakdown occurs.

An AI system can detect those changes early and alert engineers to inspect the equipment. Preventing a failure is far cheaper and less disruptive than waiting for a transformer or other critical asset to break down and leave thousands of consumers without electricity.

The same logic applies to Bangladesh’s transmission and distribution networks. The country now has nearly 18,000 circuit-km of transmission lines and more than 657,000 km of distribution lines. Managing a network of that scale is an enormous operational challenge. Power Cell data show that official distribution losses stood at 7.38% in June 2025.

By analysing real-time grid data, AI can help identify overloaded lines, abnormal voltage, technical losses and potential faults. The IEA estimates that AI-enabled fault detection can reduce outage duration by 30% to 50%. It also says that improved monitoring and AI-based grid management could unlock as much as 175 GW of additional transmission capacity globally from existing lines, without constructing new ones.

Bangladesh would not need to achieve the full global potential for this to matter. Even modest gains in efficiency, reliability and fault response could have a meaningful impact on a system operating under fuel and infrastructure constraints.

Electricity theft and abnormal consumption are another area where data can improve enforcement. With smart meters, utilities can compare the electricity entering a transformer with the amount being consumed and billed in the area it serves. Unusual patterns can be flagged automatically, helping inspection teams focus on places where the data indicates a genuine problem.

That is a much more efficient approach than trying to inspect every location with equal intensity.

AI can also help shift demand instead of simply cutting it. Not every factory, commercial building, water pump or battery charger needs to operate at maximum load during the same peak hours.

Some demand is flexible. Refrigeration cycles can be adjusted, EV and battery charging can move to off-peak periods, and commercial buildings can optimise cooling without compromising basic comfort or productivity. The objective is not to ask people to consume less at any cost. It is to use electricity at the right time and reduce unnecessary pressure on the system during peak periods.

The same intelligence can support renewable energy integration. As rooftop solar expands, AI can use weather data to forecast solar generation and coordinate it with battery storage, grid supply and conventional power plants. This becomes increasingly important as the power system grows more complex and more distributed.

Bangladesh has already begun to recognise this opportunity. In October 2025, the Asian Development Bank approved a US$1 million technical-assistance project to support AI-enhanced distribution grids in Bangladesh. The initiative is intended to pilot AI technologies and develop an AI-based energy management system for distribution companies.

The debate, therefore, is no longer about whether AI has a place in Bangladesh’s energy sector. The more important question is whether the country can deploy it at the scale and speed that the present crisis requires.

A practical next step would be a National Energy AI Platform connecting BPDB, PGCB, Petrobangla, gas distribution companies and electricity distribution utilities. Its initial priorities should be straightforward: forecast demand more accurately, optimise gas allocation, predict equipment failures, reduce grid losses and manage peak demand.

Over time, that platform could evolve into a national AI-powered energy control centre capable of running ‘what-if’ scenarios before major operational decisions are made. System operators could test the likely impact of a gas shortage, a plant outage, a heatwave or a sudden rise in demand before choosing how to respond.

None of this means AI can replace gas exploration, LNG imports, renewable energy, transmission investment or new generation capacity. Those investments remain essential.

But Bangladesh has already spent billions of dollars building energy infrastructure. The next challenge is to make that infrastructure work more intelligently.

For decades, the standard response to an electricity shortage has been to build another power plant. The energy crisis now gives us a reason to broaden that approach. The next major investment should not only add more megawatts. It should add intelligence across the entire power system.

In the energy system of the future, one of the most valuable ‘power plants’ may not be made of steel and concrete. It may be built from data, algorithms and better decisions.

- The writer is a policy analyst specialising in digital governance and public-sector reform​

 

[Saif]

Bangladesh signed up for AI-enabled healthcare, what should that actually mean?

In December 2025, in a conference room in Tokyo, Bangladesh signed a document that researchers in my field had been waiting years to see. The National Health Compact, agreed at the UHC High-Level Forum, lists six pillars for reforming the country's health system by 2030 (National Health Compact...

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Bangladesh signed up for AI-enabled healthcare, what should that actually mean?

Farjana Yesmin

Image created with AI assistance

In December 2025, in a conference room in Tokyo, Bangladesh signed a document that researchers in my field had been waiting years to see. The National Health Compact, agreed at the UHC High-Level Forum, lists six pillars for reforming the country's health system by 2030 (National Health Compact, Bangladesh, UHC High-Level Forum, Tokyo, December 2025).

Tucked into the sixth one is a line that most readers probably skimmed past: the government commits to supporting "the scale-up of digital health solutions, AI-enabled tools, and other emerging technologies that enhance equitable, efficient, and high-quality service delivery."

I read that sentence more than once. It's the first time I've seen AI named directly in a Bangladeshi health policy document rather than treated as something for another country to figure out first. But a compact is not a blueprint. It says AI-enabled tools should scale up. It doesn't say which tools, for which pillar, solving which specific problem. That gap is where my own work sits, and I think it's worth spelling out what filling that gap could actually involve.

Why the gap matters more here than elsewhere
Bangladesh's public health spending was 0.40 per cent of GDP as of 2021, well behind Bhutan at 2.21 per cent, Nepal at 1.80 per cent, and even Pakistan at 0.84 per cent. Out-of-pocket costs make up 73 per cent of total health spending, one of the highest shares in South Asia, and that burden has been pushing people into poverty. Health costs pushed 3.74 per cent of the population below the 2.15 dollar a day poverty line in 2016, up from 3.11 per cent in 2010. The health budget for FY2024-25 came to just 0.74 per cent of GDP (Centre for Policy Dialogue, Policy Brief 2025(2), April 2025).

In a system this constrained, a badly targeted tool doesn't just underperform. It actively wastes money the country doesn't have to waste. That's the argument for getting the "how" right before scaling anything up.

Where the compact's pillars point
The compact's second pillar calls for expanding community-based and telehealth service delivery, especially in hard-to-reach areas. I built a chatbot for dengue symptom triage in Bangladesh, designed to run on simple decision-tree logic in low-bandwidth clinical settings in Bengali and English. In testing on 2019-2023 case data, the model correctly flagged severe cases well enough to be useful as a first filter, and in a small pilot with 50 users, three in four said they were satisfied with it. It''s a small example, but it points at something the compact gestures toward without detailing: triage tools that work where the internet is slow and the nearest doctor is an hour away, not just in Dhaka.

The third pillar talks about redesigning the Essential Service Package around life-course prevention, including maternal health. My colleagues and I built a tool for maternal health risk prediction that combines two approaches: a set of medical rules a doctor would recognise, and a machine-learning model trained on patient data. We tested it against clinical data and then asked actual doctors, 14 of them, to review its recommendations. When we showed them the combined version, the one that explains its reasoning in terms they recognize rather than just a risk score, more than half said they would trust it enough to use in practice. That distinction between a tool that shows its work and one that doesn't seems small on paper. To a doctor deciding whether to refer a patient, it isn't.

The fifth pillar is where things get more complicated, and more interesting. It commits to establishing a National Health Security Office to manage a National Health Fund and lead what it calls strategic purchasing, while targeting vulnerable groups, urban slum residents, widows, people over 70, people with disabilities, for prioritized services.

This is not a new idea in Bangladesh. A draft National Health Protection Act has existed since 2014, proposing something similar: a National Health Protection Authority, a health card system, and lists sorting citizens into income categories, below poverty, marginal income, middle income, and above, to determine who gets subsidized care (Draft National Health Protection Act, 2014). The draft law even requires annual audits and treats misuse of the system as a punishable offense. More than a decade later, the compact is effectively picking up where that draft left off, this time with an actual signed commitment and a 2030 deadline attached.

Here's the part I keep coming back to. Any list sorting citizens into income categories is a judgment call, whether or not anyone calls it that. Someone, or something, decides who counts as "below poverty level" versus "marginal income," and that decision determines who gets a subsidized health card and who doesn't. If this system gets digitized without checking for bias first, and I've seen this exact pattern before in disaster aid allocation, it risks locking in existing unfairness at a much larger scale and a much faster pace than a paper-based system ever could. The bias-correction techniques I used to fix historical unfairness in post-flood aid rankings, adjusting a model so it stops treating location as a shortcut for actual need, apply directly to this kind of eligibility list too.

I want to be careful here about a second idea some of my recent work touches on: using AI to flag suspicious claims once a national health fund is up and running. That's a real and useful application in principle. But I''ll say plainly that my own research on this, which mixes rule-based logic with pattern recognition, has so far been tested only on simulated financial data built for a research paper, not on real claims from any health system, and my own paper is explicit that those results shouldn't be read as proof the method works on real-world fraud. It's a promising direction. It is not a finished tool, and Bangladesh shouldn't wait for it to be one before doing the more basic work of auditing its eligibility data for bias.

Bangladeshi researchers have working models for triage, maternal risk prediction, and privacy-preserving collaboration across institutions, at different stages of readiness. None of this needs to be imported or reinvented from scratch.

The piece nobody wants to think about until it breaks

The compact's first and sixth pillars also call for modernizing infrastructure and expanding private sector participation, including private diagnostic centers. Bangladesh's health data will increasingly sit across public hospitals, NGO clinics, and private providers that have no particular incentive to share patient records with each other, and plenty of legal and ethical reasons not to.

This is the kind of problem a technique called federated learning is built for, where separate institutions train a shared model together without any of them handing over their raw patient data. I built a framework called MedHE to test exactly this idea, combining that data-sharing approach with encryption strong enough that even the central server coordinating the process can't read what any single institution contributed. In our tests, simulating five separate clients working together on a health-related text classification task, the encrypted, privacy-protected version performed statistically as well as an ordinary shared model, while cutting the amount of data that needed to move between institutions by more than 97 per cent.

It's still a research demonstration rather than something running across real Bangladeshi hospitals, but it shows the privacy problem and the efficiency problem can be solved together, not traded off against each other. Bangladesh's own Digital Health Strategy, in place since 2023, will need something in this direction eventually if it's serious about connecting a fragmented network of providers without asking any of them to give up their patients' privacy first.

What would actually make this real

The compact already has a monitoring framework with real targets: raising the UHC service coverage index from 54 to 65 by 2030, cutting the share of households facing catastrophic health spending from 42 per cent to 35 per cent, and more (National Health Compact, Bangladesh, 2025). A few additions would make the AI-enabled tools commitment more than a sentence in a document.

First, any tool used to determine eligibility or priority for the National Health Fund should be checked for bias before it goes live, the same way financial and clinical outcomes are already tracked.

Second, fairness and explainability deserve their own line in the compact''s list of indicators, not just a mention under one pillar. What gets measured tends to be what gets built.

Third, the government should draw on the research already happening inside the country. Bangladeshi researchers have working models for triage, maternal risk prediction, and privacy-preserving collaboration across institutions, at different stages of readiness. None of this needs to be imported or reinvented from scratch.

Fourth, the long-dormant National Health Protection Act should be revisited with this compact in mind. A legal framework for a health card system already exists in draft form. Updating it with explicit rules for checking algorithms for bias would save the country from relearning lessons other systems have already paid for.

I think about the years between that 2014 draft act and this 2025 compact, and how much could have been built in between if the tools had been treated as ready rather than hypothetical. Some of them are ready now. Others still need more testing before anyone should trust them with real decisions, and it matters to be honest about which is which. Bangladesh has already signed the intention. What remains is turning one sentence in a Tokyo hotel conference room into something that actually makes a difference to a patient in Sunamganj or Satkhira.​

 

[Saif]

https://www.newagebd.net/post/front-page/312038/super-efficient-ai-tools-gobble-up-entry-level-software-jobs

Super-efficient AI tools gobble up entry-level software jobs

Nahiyan Ahmed . Dhaka 02 September, 2026, 00:00

Entry-level hiring in Bangladesh’s software industry is slowing as companies increasingly adopt artificial intelligence tools and become more cautious about recruitment, industry leaders say.

Top officials from several software firms say AI adoption has reached a level where the speed and precision of AI tools are reducing the need for manpower, with fresher hiring at some companies falling by half or more.

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Dream71 Bangladesh Ltd, a software firm, has seen entry-level hiring decline by as much as 50 per cent over the past year.

‘AI has transformed the nature of work in the software industry, automating a large share of tasks that were traditionally performed by software engineers,’ said Dream71 managing director Rashad Kabir.

The decline has been even steeper at Tiger IT, where entry-level recruitment has fallen by nearly 70 per cent compared with previous years, said the company’s director AHM Rashed Sorwar.

Both executives said companies were increasingly opting not to replace departing employees, relying instead on existing staff and AI-powered tools to maintain operations.

Rashad Kabir, also a former director of the Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services, said companies used to hire interns for Tk 30,000- Tk 35,000 to handle routine software engineering tasks.

These included writing basic code, preparing software requirement specifications, producing technical documentation and user manuals, conducting initial testing and developing simple software designs.

‘AI tools can now do much of that work in a fraction of the time,’ he said, adding that a task once requiring three or four interns for three months can now be completed in about an hour using a $100 AI tool.

Sorwar said work that previously required 20 employees can now be done by three people using AI.

The impact is already being felt by job seekers.

Software engineer Saber Hossain Arfan has been searching for a new job for the past three months. After leaving a local software company for a remote position with a foreign firm, he was left unemployed when the company suddenly shut down.

Since then, Saber has struggled to find a new job despite applying for numerous vacancies.

Another computer science graduate, who asked not to be named, said he applied for internships at eight to 10 software firms after graduating last February but received no response. Many of his friends, he said, were facing similar difficulties.

Rahat Hossain, who graduated about a year ago, said he has enrolled in a business analytics course to improve his prospects in the job market.

According to the Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services, its 2,800 member companies employ at least 300,000 software engineers.

Mostafizur Rahaman Sohel, a former senior vice-president of BASIS, said that although an estimated 700,000 freelancers work in the country, only around 10 per cent are software engineers.

‘The numbers are shrinking,’ he said.

Industry insiders say AI is not only reducing demand for some positions but also changing the skills companies seek.

Rashad Kabir said demand for quality assurance engineers was rising as companies increasingly used AI to generate software but still needed human experts to verify that the final product worked as intended.

QA engineers test software, identify bugs and ensure features meet client requirements before release.

Bangladesh has a relatively strong supply of QA professionals because the role generally requires less advanced programming expertise than software development, making it more accessible to computer science graduates, Kabir said.

Many graduates less interested in programming, he said, are instead pursuing QA and software testing careers. Companies often receive significantly more applications for QA positions than for software engineering roles requiring similar experience, he added.

AHM Rashed Sorwar said the employment situation had also been affected by a slowdown in government projects.

‘I haven’t heard of any firm in my circle securing a government project recently,’ he said.

AI is also reshaping hiring patterns across the global technology sector.

A 2023 report by investment bank Goldman Sachs estimated that AI could replace the equivalent of 300 million full-time jobs worldwide.

Technology job tracker TrueUp reports that 176,306 employees have been affected by layoffs at 548 technology companies so far in 2026. In 2025, 245,953 workers were affected by layoffs at 783 technology companies.

Recent studies suggest that entry-level workers are under the greatest pressure.

SignalFire’s 2026 State of Tech Talent Report found that hiring of new graduates and entry-level workers had fallen by about 65 per cent at major technology companies and 76 per cent at early-stage startups from 2019 levels.

At the same time, demand is growing rapidly for professionals skilled in agentic AI – systems that can independently plan, make decisions and perform tasks with limited human supervision.

Synesis IT chief strategy officer Aminul Bari Shuvro said software professionals without a strong understanding of AI architecture may find it increasingly difficult to remain competitive.

He, however, noted that AI had significantly improved productivity.

According to Stanford University’s 2026 AI Index Report, job postings requiring agentic AI skills increased by more than 10,800 per cent in a single year.

Jobs website Adzuna said it listed just 8,383 graduate vacancies in July, down from 15,397 a year earlier.

Competition among job seekers also increased, with an average of 2.14 applicants per vacancy in July, up from 1.93 a year earlier, according to Adzuna.

Experts say the changing landscape should be viewed as part of a broader technological transition.

‘While demand for simple programming tasks may decline, humans will continue to play critical roles in design, planning, evaluation and innovation,’ said Md Abdur Razzaque, chairman of the department of computer Science and engineering at the University of Dhaka.

He said the idea that a single skill set could remain relevant throughout an entire career was no longer realistic.

Officials said the government was planning to expand training facilities at the upazila level, with 400 upazilas selected to prepare workers for the changing job market.

AI-related skills will receive particular attention, alongside freelancing training and support through hi-tech parks and IT training centres, they said.

Md Mamunur Rashid Bhuiyan, secretary of the ICT Division, said the government needed to rethink its approach to skills development as the nature of work was changing.

‘We need to focus on developing skills in new areas and provide opportunities for workers to upskill and reskill,’ he said.​

 

[Saif]

Integrating AI into national curriculum calls for policy changes

Just recently, a young visually impaired SSC candidate from Thakurgaon expressed his sorrow on Facebook while looking for a scribe. Scribes for the visually impaired act as human writers during examinations, recording answers dictated by the student. In his post, Sharif Ali shared that without a...

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Integrating AI into national curriculum calls for policy changes

Muhammad Ismail Hossain

Figurines with computers and smartphones are seen in front of the words "Artificial Intelligence AI" in this illustration taken, 19 February 2024. Reuters file photo

Just recently, a young visually impaired SSC candidate from Thakurgaon expressed his sorrow on Facebook while looking for a scribe. Scribes for the visually impaired act as human writers during examinations, recording answers dictated by the student. In his post, Sharif Ali shared that without a scribe, his participation in the examinations would become uncertain.

His struggle raised widespread concern, but it also prompted a deeper question: in an age where technology can read, write, and respond in real time, why are our systems still so rigid? The answer lies not in a lack of tools, but in how slowly our education policies adapt to them.

Globally, artificial intelligence is no longer a distant concept in classrooms. It is already shaping how students learn, access information, and even think.

In Bangladesh, however, its presence has largely been confined to universities, often guided by rudimentary rules, with little evidence of meaningful, system-wide integration. However, earlier this year, Education and Primary and Mass Education Minister Ehsanul Haque Milon reportedly signalled a forward-looking shift, promising reforms that include introducing fields such as nanotechnology, AI, and robotics into educational programmes, alongside expanding technology-driven learning and digital platforms. If implemented with clarity and commitment, this vision could align Bangladesh’s classrooms with a rapidly evolving world.

Many educators still have limited exposure to AI tools, let alone the frameworks needed to integrate them meaningfully. Some feel intimidated; others remain understandably cautious.

One persistent gap in our current approach is the tendency to equate AI education with coding. This is a narrow interpretation of a tool that is inherently cross-disciplinary. Imagine history classes where students analyse migration patterns, or language classes where AI supports personalised writing feedback. These are not distant possibilities. In a system long shaped by a one-size-fits-all model, AI offers a pathway toward more competency-driven and adaptive learning.

However, this transformation hinges on a single, often overlooked factor: teachers. Many educators still have limited exposure to AI tools, let alone the frameworks needed to integrate them meaningfully. Some feel intimidated; others remain understandably cautious. Without addressing this, AI risks becoming another theoretical layer rather than a practical classroom tool.

Policy, therefore, must begin with teachers, not as passive recipients of reform, but as its primary drivers. A national teacher upskilling roadmap is essential, one that focuses on both technical familiarity and practical classroom application. AI modules should be embedded within teacher training colleges, while continuous professional development programmes can adopt blended learning models to ensure accessibility across both urban and rural contexts. At the same time, these efforts must be supported by targeted infrastructure improvements, particularly in connectivity and access to devices.

Equipping schools with low-cost laptops or tablets can create the foundation for digital learning, while community-based solutions, such as mobile learning labs that bring technology directly to underserved areas, can help bridge persistent gaps. Continued expansion of reliable internet access will further enable the effective use of AI tools, ensuring that these initiatives translate into meaningful learning outcomes rather than remaining limited in scope.

There are also compelling equity considerations. Take the case of Sharif Alam. According to his school’s headmaster, the institution has not been able to introduce Braille-based teaching due to the absence of specialised teachers, who are supposed to be provided by the Department of Social Services, despite repeated requests. While this gap is a separate issue, AI, if thoughtfully deployed, could help bridge such challenges through assistive technologies, converting audio-visual materials into accessible formats, or providing patient, responsive learning support that adapts to individual needs.

Structured collaboration between universities, technology firms, and innovation hubs will also be critical. Institutions like the Universal College Bangladesh (UCBD), already working with technology-sector partners, offer a glimpse of how such ecosystems can function, bringing real-world datasets, industry insights, and research opportunities into the learning process. These partnerships can also create pathways for internships and apprenticeships, ensuring that AI education does not remain confined to textbooks.

Finally, there must be mechanisms for continuous measurement and adaptation. Any meaningful integration of AI into the curriculum must also be grounded in ethics. Students and teachers alike need to be equipped not just to use these tools, but to question them, understanding issues such as data privacy and consent, recognising how algorithmic bias can shape outcomes, and identifying the risks of misinformation and deepfakes.

The promise of AI in Bangladesh’s education system is not abstract, it is tangible and within reach. But its success will depend on whether we centre our efforts on people, particularly teachers, rather than technology alone.

*Professor Muhammad Ismail Hossain is the Provost of Universal College Bangladesh.​

 

[Saif]

AI opens new revenue stream for telcos

For decades, telecom operators built their businesses around one basic product -- connectivity. They first sold voice calls, then gradually turned mobile data into a much larger source of revenue as smartphones and mobile internet transformed how people communicate, work and consume digital...

www.thedailystar.net

AI opens new revenue stream for telcos

Mahmudul Hasan

Telcos shifted from voice to data, and now AI services. Photo: Star/file

For decades, telecom operators built their businesses around one basic product -- connectivity. They first sold voice calls, then gradually turned mobile data into a much larger source of revenue as smartphones and mobile internet transformed how people communicate, work and consume digital services.

Worldwide, telecom operators are beginning to sell something different: access to artificial intelligence. Bangladesh’s mobile operators are moving in the same direction.

Robi introduced Robi AI Space on September 9, offering access to ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude and DeepSeek.

A day later, Grameenphone launched OneAI, bringing multiple leading AI models under a single subscription through the MyGP app.

Banglalink, meanwhile, has been offering AI services through its RYZE platform, including access to multiple models and AI token packages.

The moves signal a shift in the operators’ role -- from simply providing the connectivity through which digital services are consumed to becoming distribution, subscription and payment platforms for AI services.

Globally, the development is part of a broader shift in the telecom industry from selling network traffic to monetising AI consumption.

China’s three major telecom operators -- China Mobile, China Unicom and China Telecom -- launched commercial AI-token packages in May, marking one of the clearest examples of mobile operators treating AI usage as a product similar to traditional voice minutes or data allowances.

So what exactly are these AI tokens?

Tokens are the basic units used by large language models to process information. When a user sends a prompt to an AI service, the input is broken down into tokens, while the model’s response also consumes tokens. The amount of processing required can therefore be measured in tokens, allowing AI providers to charge according to usage.

In simple terms, a mobile operator sells gigabytes to pay for internet consumption, while an AI platform can sell tokens to pay for AI computation.

China’s operators have begun packaging those tokens much like mobile data. China Telecom, for example, launched consumer plans starting at 9.9 yuan ($1.40) a month for 10 million tokens, with higher-priced packages offering larger allowances. It also introduced business and developer packages, with token allowances reaching hundreds of millions.

China Unicom also launched token packages, including plans ranging from six million to 18 million tokens, while China Mobile has offered token-based services through partnerships and local branches.

That gives operators an opportunity to move beyond their traditional role as connectivity providers.

The model is now reaching Bangladesh.

Tanveer Mohammad, chief corporate affairs officer at Grameenphone, said that when voice service first arrived, it brought a significant transformation to people’s lifestyles and engagement at that time. Then came the era of data. By using data, people gained immense access to global knowledge.

“Now, the entire world is entering the era of AI. Telcos cannot stay outside of this global AI revolution. We must leverage AI to increase our operational efficiency, expand our capabilities, and broaden our reach.”

Grameenphone’s service includes ChatGPT, Claude, Grok, DeepSeek and Gemini, among other AI models. Customers can use the service for learning and research, content writing, coding and software development, image generation, document analysis and summarisation.

At an event at GPHouse marking Grameenphone’s AI&I Day, Chief Guest Rehan Asif Asad, adviser to the prime minister for telecom and ICT, officially announced the launch.

Rehan Asad said, “I am encouraged to see Grameenphone taking the lead in making AI more accessible to people through initiatives such as OneAI. For students in particular, this creates an affordable way to access AI tools and use them to support learning, research and skill development.”

Grameenphone CEO Yasir Azman said, “We are putting the possibilities of AI directly into the hands of millions of our customers, particularly students, making it simpler and more accessible for learning, work, creativity and problem-solving.”

Through AI Space, Robi positioned the service as an all-in-one AI hub inside the My Robi app.

Through a partnership with Every AI, Robi AI Space offers access to ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude and DeepSeek through a single premium subscription or selected AI bundle packages.

Robi Managing Director and CEO Ziad Shatara said, “With credit card penetration posing a structural hurdle, our market has long faced restricted access to global digital tools. By introducing this all-in-one AI platform through My Robi, we are bridging that divide.”

Banglalink has also entered the emerging AI-services market through RYZE, its AI-powered digital platform.​

 

[Saif]

What will remain ours in the age of AI?

In the past, people would view a glacier chunk falling into a lake and causing a river to overflow as a cosmic event or divine act.

www.thedailystar.net

What will remain ours in the age of AI?

Shamsad Mortuza

VISUAL: SALMAN SAKIB SHAHRYAR

In the past, people would view a glacier chunk falling into a lake and causing a river to overflow as a cosmic event or divine act. Now that we have placed an eye in the sky, the satellite images can help us understand how the unprecedented flash flood in the Nepal-Tibet border area happened. And to aid human reason, AI is employed to piece together the exact way the mountain and the river interlocked in a cataclysmic event.

The event is a reminder how small and insignificant humans are in the grand scheme of things. Many images online highlight humanity’s extremes: people risking their lives to save others, while some others scavenging through debris to loot from the dead. One image of a two-storey building surviving the onrush of waters made many of us think of miracles. Then came the scientific explanations, where structural engineers showed the extra piling used to anchor the house. The image made me reflect on the very connection between deep and surface structures.

While presenting a plenary talk at the recently held AI conclave at BRAC University, I used this solitary house image as a metaphor to argue for the need for a strong foundation in a deluge of information. As a student of literature and culture, I have a holistic approach to the onrush of information that has flooded our screens. In academia, we are unsure how to deal with the exponential growth of technology. There is no denying the fact that research today is much more computational, data-driven, industry-led and interdisciplinary; knowledge production relies heavily on technology. AI is here to stay, but how to approach it is another matter.

An MIT media lab publication titled “Your Brain on ChatGPT: Accumulation of Cognitive Debt when Using an AI Assistant for Essay Writing Task” finds that brain-only writers have the strongest, followed by search users with intermediate, and Large Language Model (LLM) users with the weakest brain connectivity. Yale University has responded by developing an AI guidance for students, encouraging them to think critically about the technology.

As policymakers have stated sporadically, Bangladesh is working on an AI policy. AI is now being considered a life skill. Algorithmic ads targeting groups of people becoming experts on digital tools in under a month are plentiful. But can one truly become an expert in anything without a solid grounding in that subject? That is precisely the question I floated in the AI conclave. I can write a prompt to ask the LLM to produce a poem for me. But can I claim it as my own? Do I own the language that exists in its repository? This is where the issue of ethics and integrity comes in.

A culture of suspicion has arisen where we begin to comprehend the success of others as a compromised integrity. We think the singers have used auto-tuners, academics have used AI, and business houses have used manufactured data for their sales pitches. This is a culture where some assume a moral high ground to preach honesty and integrity.

It is like students turning in an assignment not realising that the teacher has added a hidden catchphrase to nab a misconduct. On Teachers’ Day, ChatGPT released a short video to celebrate teachers by saying, “We know.” The ad was supposed to tell the students not to think that they had outwitted their teachers by using LLM tools. Teachers have the foundational knowledge to know that their students are cutting corners. The temptation is too powerful. We are all beginning to outsource our tasks: students finishing assignments in 15 minutes and teachers preparing their lesson plans or class materials in equally short time. Information is processed at an unprecedented scale and speed. Our overreliance on devices has made it increasingly difficult to think on our own. We are rehearsing knowledge that is already in the repository, then producing it with some personal garnishing.

A representative from the leading plagiarism checker Turnitin told the conclave how the number of submissions to Organization Science had increased by 42 percent ever since ChatGPT was launched in 2022. Even the prestigious publishing outlet like Springer Nature retracted 2,923 papers in 2024. A Ukrainian paper mill network was found responsible for 1,517 fraudulent papers. On September 8, TBS Bangla ran an investigative report and talked to a Bangladeshi paper mill selling Q1 journal articles for TK 20,000-70,000.

So how do we pursue knowledge and retain trust and integrity in this age of AI? More importantly, how do we retain our human voice and agency at a time when everything can be outsourced? I return to the image of the house that survived Nepal’s flood. We need to build a foundation before we encounter the flood of information presented by AI. And that foundation must be built in the right environment.

We need to be AI-resilient, but thinking that we can be AI-proof will be foolish. Instead, we can adopt a product-process-presence model. If we consider an assignment to be a product, for instance, we need to check it for accuracy, disciplinary standards, and the evidence that it provides. Then there should be declarative options where the producer of the work must reveal how the product was made. Some journals now require the proposals, drafts, sources, prompt log and revisions made. The most important phase is the presence phase: where a learner must be able to defend the product, maybe through a viva or a brief presentation.

For such an ecosystem to grow, we need to apply the same standards to both teachers and students. Teachers must make the AI rules clear. Students need to know whether AI is completely prohibited or partially allowed. Whatever the case is, the feedback process must retain human agencies.

At an institutional level, policymakers must not create unrealistic pressures on their faculty members in the name of rankings and reputations to publish beyond their capabilities. The pressure chain prompts faculty members to salami-slice their works, acting like the proverbial fox repeatedly showing the same crocodile kid before consumption.

There is no glory in catching plagiarism after it has happened. The cop-and-robber game that the media likes to dress up as news is just the tip of the iceberg. The greater problem is our knowledge that the glacier is heating up. Whatever we know as our own will have a great fall. And if we all follow the fancied trend, we risk being washed away. The only way we can withstand the change is by making us ready for the next flood. AI can help us build faster, but only we can decide what is worth building and where we want to build next.

Dr Shamsad Mortuza is vice-chancellor at the University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh (ULAB).​

 

[Saif]

https://www.newagebd.net/post/science-and-technology/313911/rapid-development-of-ai-crisis-or-opportunity-for-bangladeshi-youth

Rapid development of AI: Crisis or opportunity for Bangladeshi Youth?
Porimol Palma 15 September, 2026, 11:31

Artificial intelligence is rapidly changing the way people work, from writing and translation to coding, data analysis, graphic design and software development.

For Bangladesh, however, the transformation is arriving at a difficult time: millions of young people are already struggling to find work.

The Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics Labour Force Survey put the country's overall unemployment rate at 3.66 per cent in 2024. But unemployment among people aged 15–29 was 8.07 per cent.

The rapid spread of AI therefore raises a critical question for Bangladesh – if whether it will create new opportunities or make an already difficult job market even harder to enter.

For Achia Nila, founder of software development company Women in Digital, AI is both a challenge and a major opportunity.

AI, she said, is no longer relevant only to IT professionals. People in almost every sector can use it to improve productivity.

She herself has seen the change in her business.

‘I used to employ ten developers before the advent of AI. Now, I can do much of my primary work, including project analysis, myself as I have an IT background,’ she said.

‘So, I might have cut some employees, but the efficiency and speed of my work has have been enhanced.’

That experience captures one of the central dilemmas posed by AI. The technology can make an individual worker significantly more productive, but the same productivity gain can mean that companies need fewer people to perform certain tasks.

For Bangladesh's large pool of freelancers, particularly those providing services such as data entry, graphic design and basic software development to overseas clients, the implications could be significant.

‘There is a common perception that the Bangladeshi freelancers engaged in providing IT products and services to the developed world will be hardest hit by the advent of AI,’ Nila said.

‘This is a partial truth. If you update yourself with the required expertise, you would be able to work more efficiently and earn even better.’

The bigger danger is for workers who do not update their skills.

Continuous learning and adaptation is are increasingly important as technology changes both the nature of work and what employers expect from workers.

‘AI cannot work without humans behind them. It needs to prompt and it is the humans who can be prompters,’ Nila said.

Even AI-generated content, she added, requires human supervision and verification.

People are already seeing large numbers of AI-generated images and videos on social media, but the novelty of such content is beginning to wear off.

‘People want unique, human-touched contents content. Even if you take AI assistance, it has to have unique features, and that’s not possible without humans working behind them,’ she said.

Entry-level jobs under pressure

Professor Rifat Shahriyar of the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at BUET has observed a more immediate impact on the country's IT job market.

‘The demand for the fresher CSE graduates has come down because of the industries’ more use increased use of AI,’ he said.

Starting salaries for newly recruited graduates have also declined, he said.

Companies are increasingly using AI to enable mid-level engineers to perform software development and other tasks that previously required larger numbers of entry-level workers.

‘In the developed world too, the expert-level jobs on the subject are increasing,’ Shahriyar said.

That has implications beyond the technology industry because entry-level employment traditionally provides young graduates with their first opportunity to gain professional experience.

If those first rungs of the career ladder disappear or become fewer, young people may find it harder to enter the professions in the first place.

The same pressure could eventually affect freelancers working in routine areas such as graphic design and data entry.

But workers who learn to use AI effectively could find new opportunities, Shahriyar said.

A warning for Bangladesh's education system

A recent study of university students in Bangladesh suggests that young people are aware of the transformation but are not uniformly prepared for it.

The study, published on September 10 in Discover Global Society, surveyed 450 students at Dhaka University, Rajshahi University and Pabna University of Science and Technology.

The students generally believed that AI could create new employment opportunities, although they also expressed concerns about job losses and skill gaps.

The researchers called for greater integration of AI-related education into university curricula and closer alignment between what students learn and what industries require.

That challenge comes when, as per BBS Labour Force Survey 2024, there are according to the BBS Labour Force Survey 2024, there were about 2.62 million unemployed people in Bangladesh. Around 885,000 of them were university graduates, while unemployment among people with tertiary education was 13.54 per cent.

Bangladesh as AI consumer

Professor Shahriyar said the problem in Bangladesh is that it is basically the consumers a consumer of AI tools, not producers a producer. Also, the country does not have its infrastructure ready.

‘We are now only buying the applications or using free ones. We will be spending huge foreign currency amounts of foreign currency if we continue to do this.’

The country needs stronger domestic capacity to develop AI applications and supporting infrastructure, including data centres, he said.

‘We have talents talent and if we can develop our own applications, our government and industries can use them at competitive cost.’

Developing domestic capacity would also help Bangladesh address data protection and cybersecurity concerns, he added.

The issue is becoming increasingly important as AI spreads beyond technology companies into government, education, finance, healthcare, manufacturing and other sectors, the academic added.

Training the whole workforce

Both experts argue that AI training cannot be restricted to computer science students or software professionals.

‘The most important thing now for our government is to expand AI training to anyone eligible and have laws so that we cannot abuse AI and protect the data,’ Shahriyar said.

‘AI is not about the IT professionals only but for all sectors. It affects all and benefits all. What is needed is the right policy and regulations.’

The technology could also become an important learning tool.

People can use AI to learn foreign languages, mathematics and other skills, provided they know how to use the technology properly and verify the information it provides.

Nila similarly believes that Bangladesh needs to move much faster.

‘You can have your AI agents that can work for you if you train them properly. These are also paid AI services. You don’t have much of them many of them being used in Bangladesh,’ she said.

That points to a potentially important divide in the future labour market: not simply between people who have jobs and those who do not, but between workers who know how to use AI and those who do not.

The opportunity behind the disruption

Globally, AI companies are developing increasingly powerful systems at extraordinary speed.

Some technology leaders and researchers have warned that the development of advanced AI needs stronger safeguards because of the potential economic, cybersecurity and social risks.

But the technology also has the potential to dramatically increase productivity.

For Bangladesh, the challenge is therefore not whether AI can be stopped. It cannot.

The real challenge is whether the country can prepare its young population quickly enough.

‘We need strong regulations for data collection and incentives for people and industries to learn the required skills and develop local applications and infrastructure,’ said Professor Rifat Shahriyar.​

 

[Saif]

Back to '80s courtesy of AI!

Humans always have an inner urge to go back to the past, even though it is known that the clock cannot be reversed in the real world. This is reflected in the latest trend of generating photos from the 1980s using artificial intelligence (AI). Suddenly, many people have joined the trend to recreate

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

Back to '80s courtesy of AI!

Humans always have an inner urge to go back to the past, even though it is known that the clock cannot be reversed in the real world. This is reflected in the latest trend of generating photos from the 1980s using artificial intelligence (AI). Suddenly, many people have joined the trend to recreate their photos in '80s style. They are also sharing these photos alongside current ones on social media. The trend has also sparked debate about the extent to which AI recreates photos to resemble the '80s.

Several AI image generators are now in use by millions of people across the world to recreate their photos. These image generators recreate the photos mainly in two ways. One is using default settings, where people only need to upload their current photos to AI sites to get photos with '80s backgrounds, colours, and styles. Another is using text prompts to recreate uploaded photos so the AI can generate more unique photos for individuals. The more precise the prompt is, the better the photos. For instance, instead of asking to convert a photo into an authentic 1980s photo, it would be better to split the request into specific elements like 'the objects in the scene, clothing, photographic technology, cultural setting and the circumstances surrounding the photograph.' Several media outlets are now publishing tips on how to give precise prompts to AI for creating the desired photos.

Though Bangladeshis are also asking AI to generate photos of the '80s, in most cases what they are getting is photos having a flavour of the decade in the Western world, America to be precise. This is because AI's backend data are mostly loaded with photos, videos and descriptive text from the Western world. Some also include photos of social and fashion trends in India during the decade, especially Bollywood styles. Thus, Bangladesh in the '80s is largely absent from these AI-generated photos.

The 1980s were a time when Bangladesh confronted Ershad's autocratic regime to restore democracy. Old photos from those days show walls of public universities and colleges covered with slogans like: samorik ain tule nao, gonotantra phirye dao (withdraw the martial law, reinstate democracy). It was the decade when the export-oriented ready-made garments (RMG) industry began its journey to change the country's economic pattern. The advertisement of Pearson's: aaj ebong agamaikaler poshak (clothing for today and tomorrow).

In this decade, private entrepreneurship got recognition for the first time, after scrapping the state-driven socialist approach of the '70s. It was also the decade when unskilled and semi-skilled workers from Bangladesh started to go to the Middle East. Dubai jamu taka dao (I will go to Dubai, give me the money) was a line from a popular TV drama that spread by word of mouth across the country, even when there was no internet. In today's social media terms, the thing was viral. Rotary dial telephone set was a matter of social status at that time as only a few households had the telephone connections.

Again, the '80s was the decade of flourishing two-weekly magazines: Bichitra, edited by Shahadat Chowdhury, and Jai Jai Deen, edited by Shafiq Rehman. The latter faced a ban under the Ershad regime. In the decade, paperback thriller fictions and translations from Sheba Prokashoni, founded by Qazi Anwar Hussain, reached their peak. Almost every railway station bookstall sold Sheba's books. In the '80s, listening to the BBC Bangla service on the radio in the evening and morning was quite popular, especially when political confrontation occurred. BTV's weekly dramas and soap operas attracted the audiences to the screens. Watching movies at cinema halls was also a popular form of entertainment and socialisation. Razzak-Bobita, Alamgir-Shabana, Sohel Rana-Suchorita dominated the big screen. Young couples exchanged their photo view cards as a way to express their love to each other. Songs by Kurshid Alam, Abdul Jabber, Sabian Yasmin, Runa Laila, and Andrew Kishore were so popular that many recorded them on cassette reels. The craze for football, especially the rivalry between Abahoni and Mohammedan, was one of the most iconic symbols of the '80s. Salahuddin, Nannu, Salam, Chunnu, Badal, Aslam, and Kaiser were the great players whose photo posters lined the walls of many houses.

Thus, trying to go back to the '80s in Bangladesh using AI is nothing but a distorted effort. An AI-generated image of the decade can only provide a scattered interpretation, full of inaccuracies.​

 

[Saif]

AI taking away basic jobs from freelancers

Over the years, nearly 3.5 lakh tech-savvy youths have been earning more than $1 billion annually for Bangladesh, according to unofficial estimates. But their reliance on routine digital work now faces a serious test from artificial intelligence (AI).

www.thedailystar.net

AI taking away basic jobs from freelancers

Mahmudul Hasan

Over the years, nearly 3.5 lakh tech-savvy youths have been earning more than $1 billion annually for Bangladesh, according to unofficial estimates. But their reliance on routine digital work now faces a serious test from artificial intelligence (AI).

Many of these freelancers sell skills in simple and repetitive tasks such as data entry, translation, transcription and basic photo editing to foreign clients through digital marketplaces.

For such basic jobs, their main selling point has been cheap rates. But as AI becomes capable of producing designs, writing code, editing images and performing other digital tasks within minutes and way cheaper than they do, local freelancers are now seeing their incomes fall by up to 80 percent.

They say foreign clients are no longer contacting them as frequently as before. And when work does come in, the projects often require fewer hours than they did before AI became widely available.

Digital service experts say AI is changing the freelancing market altogether.

A $10 logo-design job from a US firm may not arrive ever again. The client can now produce a first version almost instantly with an AI tool, and may instead pay a human $100 to edit and customise the company’s AI-generated multimedia campaign.

The experts say the shift from basic services to more complex tasks could wipe out many low-paid jobs while opening up more lucrative opportunities for freelancers who can make the transition.

UP TO 80% OF INCOME GONE IN INITIAL SHOCK

Several Bangladeshi freelancers interviewed by The Daily Star said the volume of work available to them has already fallen sharply, particularly for routine jobs such as graphic design, image editing, web development, content production and photography.

Emrazina Islam, who has been freelancing since January 2011, said her income has fallen by more than 80 percent following the loss of a major business.

“We used to serve a company from 2012. At one point, we had up to 15 people working for them,” she said. The company provided office space and laptops to her team, and its business expanded during the Covid-19 period, when the team also grew.

“But after AI came, our entire business was sold out,” Emrazina said.

The work her team had been doing, including graphic design, image editing and project management, was subsequently performed using AI.

Emrazina said the impact is not limited to design. Web development has also been transformed, with tasks that previously required large teams now being completed by far fewer people using AI tools.

She said freelancers relying on basic skills such as simple content writing, photo editing and data entry face particular pressure.

Photographer Yousuf Tushar, who has worked for about 20 years, said AI-generated images have taken away part of the demand for commercial photography. In the past, clients would hire photographers for product shoots, modelling and stock photographs.

Now, some businesses can generate images without arranging a physical shoot.

“Much of my income is gone because they think that if they need a picture for an advertisement, they can make it with AI,” Tushar said.

He estimated that his income has fallen by around 50 percent because of AI.

Tushar said the decline has been largely noticeable in stock photography, where clients have increasingly turned away from purchasing photographs for calendars and other commercial purposes.

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He said the transition resembles an earlier technological disruption. “When we shifted from film to digital photography, there was a shock. But the impact of AI is much bigger.”

Kazi Mamun, a Dhaka-based freelancer with around 14 years of experience, said the number of jobs available in the market has fallen while competition for the remaining work has increased.

He estimated that his own work has declined by around 25 percent, although his long-standing direct clients have helped somewhat cushion the impact. His five-member team now focuses more heavily on finding clients directly rather than depending entirely on platforms such as Upwork and Fiverr -- the two largest global freelance marketplaces.

“Many people have come down to half [of their previous work], 70 percent, or some have actually dropped out of the marketplaces,” Mamun said.

“Clients are trying many things themselves,” he said. “For smaller projects, they are no longer hiring freelancers as they did before.”

HIGHER-PAYING AI WORK OPENS UP

Instead of typical repetitive tasks, online freelancing marketplaces are now increasingly offering more AI-related work at lucrative rates.

Upwork’s research found that AI-related work on its platform grew 25 percent year-on-year in gross services volume in the first quarter of 2025, while prompt-engineering work grew 52 percent.

Freelancers doing AI-related work earned, on average, more than 40 percent higher hourly rates than those doing non-AI work.

But the effect is more visible in Bangladesh, as many entry-level service jobs in the country can increasingly be performed by AI.

“If someone becomes highly skilled in AI, that person’s future is very good,” Emrazina said. “And someone who does not know AI will be left behind.”

Fahim Mashroor, a technology entrepreneur and former president of the Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services (BASIS), said Bangladesh should immediately focus on building a workforce capable of competing in an increasingly AI-driven global services market.

TRAINING NEEDS AN UPDATE, TOO

Freelancer Emrazina said the basic jobs that existed before will not have much of a future. Local freelancers need to develop logical thinking, problem-solving and project-management skills alongside their core expertise.

Tanjiba Rahman, chairman of the Bangladesh Freelancing Development Society (BFDS), said that while AI is rapidly changing the freelancing market, the bigger concern is whether the country’s training system is changing fast enough.

“Basically, all the training we are providing in Bangladesh… is basically at the entry level. Because of this, we are not getting work,” Tanjiba told The Daily Star.

The problem, she argued, is not that AI will eliminate all freelancing work. Rather, Bangladesh risks losing out if its freelancers remain concentrated in tasks that AI can increasingly perform.

She pointed to opportunities in areas such as mathematics, statistics, research and other specialised fields that Bangladeshi freelancers have largely not explored.

She also stressed that clients continue to value originality and human judgement for work where uniqueness matters.

“Two things need to be ensured. First, advanced skills; and second, creating mentors for the country who can keep people updated with the international market trends,” Tanjiba added.​

 

[Saif]

Bangladesh needs preparation to fight AI cyberthreats: Sergey Lozhkin

Kaspersky’s Sergey Lozhkin discusses AI-driven cyberthreats, fraud, APT groups and why Bangladesh needs stronger cybersecurity preparedness.

www.thedailystar.net

Bangladesh needs preparation to fight AI cyberthreats: Sergey Lozhkin

Md. Zahidur Rabbi

Sergey Lozhkin, head of Kaspersky’s Research Centre for APAC and META

Sergey Lozhkin spends much of his time trying to understand how hackers think — how they get in, how they stay hidden and how they adapt when their methods are discovered. He is the head of Kaspersky’s Research Centre for APAC and META, specialising in malware, advanced cyber threats and reverse engineering. He previously worked with Kaspersky’s Global Research and Analysis Team and served as a vice-president of cybersecurity operations at JPMorgan Chase.

In a recent conversation with The Daily Star, Lozhkin discussed the changing cyber threat landscape, the growing role of artificial intelligence (AI), and what Bangladesh needs to do to prepare.

Rising threat landscape

Bangladesh faces many of the same cyber threats seen across the Asia-Pacific region, Lozhkin said, including backdoors, information stealers and other forms of crimeware.

“It's not a big difference from the APAC region globally,” he said.

But Bangladesh's large population, growing smartphone use and level of digital literacy can make the impact of familiar threats significant, he said.

Kaspersky's data illustrates the scale. Between April and June 2026, the company detected more than 2.18 million internet-borne cyberthreats in Bangladesh. It said 23.4 per cent of its users in the country were affected by web-borne threats, placing Bangladesh second globally in its ranking for dangers associated with web surfing.

The same period saw more than 5.35 million local incidents, with 29.2 per cent of users affected. Bangladesh ranked 14th globally in that category. The figures come from Kaspersky's Security Network, which aggregates anonymised data from millions of voluntary participants.

When the scam sounds like family

Some of the threats Lozhkin sees do not depend on sophisticated malware. Instead, they exploit trust. He said AI-generated voices and images are increasingly being used to impersonate relatives. A fraudster might call claiming that someone's son or daughter has been involved in an accident and urgently needs money.

“In Bangladesh I have seen fraud schemes using AI-generated voices and images to impersonate relatives,” Lozhkin said.

Such scams can work even when people know they exist, he said, because fear and urgency can override caution. “People trust this a lot,” he said.

The problem is part of a wider trend that Lozhkin said he has seen in several countries, including Bangladesh, Thailand and Myanmar. For victims, the challenge is no longer simply recognising a suspicious message or attachment. It can involve determining whether the person speaking to them is actually who they claim to be.

Hackers are changing how they hide

More sophisticated attackers are also changing how they operate.

Lozhkin's team tracks advanced persistent threat (APT) groups and operations around the world. He said attackers are increasingly looking for ways to hide malicious activity inside legitimate digital services.

When asked if there are any new techniques seen as of 2026 Lozhkin cited examples of attackers using tools such as Visual Studio Code to exfiltrate data and Microsoft Outlook calendar events as part of command-and-control activity.

“The AP groups with the help of AI are going to develop in the fields of stealth communication and data exfiltration,” he warned. “The objective is to make malicious activity appear increasingly like ordinary digital traffic. If attackers can hide data theft inside legitimate communication channels, detecting the activity may require analysing behaviour rather than simply looking for known malicious files.”

He also described APT groups as adaptable, technically sophisticated and focused on remaining undetected.

The Bangladesh Bank lesson

Bangladesh has already experienced the consequences of a sophisticated cyberattack.

Lozhkin referred to the 2016 Bangladesh Bank heist, which was linked to the Lazarus group. He said the incident prompted changes in the country's approach to cybersecurity.

“Before the incident, Bangladesh's cybersecurity policies, products and implementation were at a relatively low level. After the attack, the government began paying greater attention to protecting not only government organisations but also large private enterprises,” Lozhkin said.

But he said Bangladesh still has room to improve.

“Bangladesh is not on the same level as countries like Singapore or Malaysia. Singapore, for example, is one of the most effective countries in this area and is doing a lot at the government level to protect its cybersecurity,” he said.

A place for young Bangladeshi talent?

The changing threat landscape also raises a question about Bangladesh's young technology workforce.

Lozhkin said he regularly hears from Bangladeshi students seeking advice on how to build careers in cybersecurity and join Kaspersky's research teams.

The company's GReAT team includes researchers from several APAC countries, including Malaysia, China, South Korea, India and Australia. It currently does not have a researcher directly from Bangladesh, Lozhkin said, partly because of Kaspersky's local office structure.

“If in future there's going to be a regional office, absolutely we can think about employing Bangladeshi researchers,” he said.

For students hoping to enter the field, Lozhkin's advice is straightforward: learn the fundamentals and do not rely too heavily on AI. He encouraged young researchers to develop skills in reverse engineering, programming and cybersecurity, alongside a genuine curiosity about how technology works.

“The rest, we can teach anybody,” he said, pointing to talent, passion and hard work as important qualities.

When AI fights AI

Over the next few years, Lozhkin expects cyberattacks and defence to become increasingly automated, with AI systems eventually carrying out much of the work now performed by humans.

“My biggest prediction is that there would be a fight with almost zero human interaction,” he said.

An AI system could search for weaknesses and attempt to penetrate an organisation, while another could detect and stop it. Humans, initially, would remain in control. But Lozhkin believes even that role could diminish as the systems become more complex.

He also warned about the possibility of highly capable AI systems reaching sophisticated criminal groups or nation-state-backed actors.

For Bangladesh, that makes preparation broader than simply deploying better security software. It means strengthening institutions, protecting financial and government systems, improving public awareness and developing people who can understand the technology behind emerging threats.

The attackers, Lozhkin's research suggests, will continue to adapt. The challenge for Bangladesh will be keeping pace.​

 

[Saif]

AI’s hidden water cost, and why it matters

What is wrong with using AI to turn yourself into a 1980s movie star? Nothing, apparently.

www.thedailystar.net

AI’s hidden water cost, and why it matters

Fatema Tuz Zuhra and Hurmetun Nesa Labiba

FILE VISUAL: SALMAN SAKIB SHAHRYAR

What is wrong with using AI to turn yourself into a 1980s movie star? Nothing, apparently. Type a prompt, upload a photo, and within seconds, you have a glamorous, grainy portrait of yourself that looks as though it belongs on the cover of an old film magazine. It is nostalgic, effortless, and, most importantly, fun.

It is a privilege to enjoy something without ever having to ask what it takes. However, AI does not generate these retro images out of thin air. Behind the seemingly effortless “generate” button are massive data centres packed with servers that require vast amounts of electricity and water to operate. Because this infrastructure remains largely out of sight, the environmental cost of using AI is easy to overlook and even easier to ignore.

We use AI to write emails, finish assignments, brainstorm projects, summarise books, make presentations, edit photographs, generate videos, and create memes. We ask it to rewrite one sentence in ten different ways. We generate an image, dislike it, generate another, change the lighting, clothes, or background, and generate again. Each command feels insignificant. But collectively, they are not.

Generative AI requires enormous amounts of computing power. The specialised chips running these systems consume electricity and produce heat. The cooling systems used to manage the heat consume significant amounts of water. Water is also used to generate electricity that powers data centres. The more computing-intensive the task, the greater the resource demand.

So, how much water does one prompt actually use? There is no single universal number. It depends on the model, the data centre, the cooling technology, the weather, the electricity source, and even the length and type of the request. One widely cited study estimated that GPT-3 could consume roughly 500 ml of water for every 10 to 50 medium-length responses. However, Google reported in 2025 that a median text prompt on its Gemini apps used about 0.26 ml of water, roughly five drops. Google also acknowledged that water consumption varies depending on the infrastructure and methodology used to measure it.

The disagreement is part of the problem. AI companies still don’t provide enough standardised, transparent information for the public to understand the water footprint. One recent estimate puts the global water footprint of AI at between 4.2 and 6.6 hundred crore cubic metres annually by 2027.

The world is already struggling with water. In 2024, 220 crore people still lacked safely managed drinking water, according to the United Nations. The UN also reports that 340 crore people lacked safely managed sanitation. A 2026 report from the United Nations University says the world has moved beyond a conventional water crisis into what it calls “global water bankruptcy”.

This is hardly an abstract concern for Bangladesh. Water scarcity, groundwater depletion, and salinity already affect communities across the country. Against that reality, the question is not whether we should stop using AI. That would be neither realistic nor particularly useful. AI can improve education, research, healthcare, and productivity. The problem is an industry that makes computation feel weightless while its physical infrastructure remains hidden, and a culture that encourages us to generate endlessly because the marginal cost to the user appears to be zero.

We need better disclosure from AI companies, more water-efficient data centres, greater use of recycled and non-potable water, and serious limits on the siting of massive data centres in water-stressed regions. Companies should be required to disclose how much water their systems consume, while governments should treat water availability as seriously as electricity when approving new data centres. Users, meanwhile, can ask a simple question before pressing generate: do I actually need to use AI for this?

The question, then, is not whether we will use AI, but whether we are willing to acknowledge what that convenience consumes. Progress cannot mean building technologies that make consumption seem invisible. The environmental costs behind AI must be visible, measurable, and shared by the companies profiting from its expansion.

Hurmetun Nesa Labiba and Fatema Tuz Zuhra are research associates at Bangladesh Institute of Governance and Management (BIGM).​

 

[Saif]

Bangladesh's first AI training centres to be established in Sylhet: Muktadir

Commerce Minister Khandakar Abdul Muktadir on Tuesday said the government will set up several artificial intelligence (AI) training centres in Sylhet – first of its kind – to equip young people with skills for AI and IT-related work. “We will start this initiative in Sylhet and g

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

Bangladesh's first AI training centres to be established in Sylhet: Muktadir

Commerce Minister Khandakar Abdul Muktadir on Tuesday said the government will set up several artificial intelligence (AI) training centres in Sylhet – first of its kind – to equip young people with skills for AI and IT-related work.

“We will start this initiative in Sylhet and gradually expand it to other districts of the division. This will prepare the new generation for freelancing and the international IT sector, while also creating more opportunities to earn foreign currency for the country,” he said.

The minister was speaking at a freshers’ reception and farewell programme organised by the Dhaka University unit of the Jalalabad Chhatra Kalyan Samity at the TSC auditorium of Dhaka University, UNB reports.

Muktadir said there is vast potential for freelancing in Bangladesh, particularly in Sylhet, with many young people currently earning between $500 and $5,000 a month, while some top-tier freelancers earn much more.

The proposed training programme aims to help more young people tap into this potential and become self-reliant earners, he said.

Through freelancing and IT-based work, young people can earn foreign currency and help attract IT-related work from overseas firms to Bangladesh, the minister added.

Stressing the need for investment in education, health and research, he said development is an integrated process.

Muktadir said countries that have achieved sustainable development made key investments in health, education, research and innovation.

Bangladesh must address fundamental challenges in education and health before it can make adequate investments in research, he said.

Without long-term and consistent investment in these two sectors, the minister said, skilled human resources and sustainable economic progress are not possible.

Speaking about the government's target of raising investment in the areas, he said the Prime Minister identified education and health as two priority areas after the present government took office.

Muktadir said the government aims to gradually increase budgetary allocations so that each sector receives an amount equivalent to 5 percent of GDP.

However, describing it as a long-term goal, he said reaching that level is not easy and a long way remains to be covered.

The minister also expressed concern over the state of education in the Sylhet region, saying the division lags behind in divisional literacy rates and various education indicators.

He said the region's position is below expectations compared to the national average in both urban and rural areas, and it also trails in the number of schools, pass rates, quality of primary education, and students' reading and numeracy skills.

Muktadir, however, said this is not due to any lack of talent or capability among the people of Sylhet.

A large number of people from the region have established notable positions in education, politics, business and various other professions in the UK, North America and other countries, he said.

Causes of the region's educational shortcomings, therefore, must be sought in infrastructure, institutional capacity, leadership and other structural limitations, the minister added.

Underscoring the vital role of higher education in building a knowledge-based society and a prosperous future, he said students should not confine university life to earning degrees, but prepare themselves as skilled human resources capable of leadership, research, innovation and nation-building.

Addressing the freshers, Muktadir urged them to make the most of university opportunities and acquire skills that will enable them to contribute effectively to society and the country as well as themselves.

He also called on outgoing students to work with integrity, responsibility and a spirit of service to the nation in their professional life.

Praising the activities of the Jalalabad Chhatra Kalyan Samity, the minister said the organisation can serve as a "beacon of light" in keeping the people of the Sylhet division living in Dhaka united and in advancing Sylhet.

He urged current and former students to strengthen mutual communication and cooperation to that end.

At the programme, newly admitted students from Sylhet division at Dhaka University were welcomed with flowers, while high-achieving students who successfully completed their university studies were given farewell receptions.​

 

[Saif]

https://thefinancialexpress.com.bd/views/ai-is-science-fiction-becoming-real

AI: is science fiction becoming real?

A humanoid robot takes selfies with a visitor at the 7th World Voice Expo in Hefei, east China's Anhui Province, October 24, 2024 — Xinhua Photo

In 2001: A Space Odyssey, Arthur C Clarke showed how the smart computer HAL9000 disobeyed command from its astronauts and killed one of them to scupper their plan to return from space. Isaac Asimov in his science fiction I, Robot lays down three principles regulating the robots which emphasise robots will not harm human beings under any circumstances. Regardless of restrictions imposed, one robot in his book escapes the system and runs amok.

Recent developments with Artificial Intelligence (AI) indicate that the science fiction stories may become facts in real life soon. First, AI model agents escaped the laboratory of Google during a cyber security evaluation and hacked the accounts of three companies after unintended access to internet. Second, one of the senior AI researcher of Anthropic (a US-based AI technology company), Jacob Coxon, recently resigned from his post and publicly warned that AI companies were racing straight to self-improving super intelligence and that consequences could be catastrophic for humanity. In an interview with Bloomberg he said that sufficiently advanced AI could potentially become capable of killing human in the next decade and that society could not simply protect itself by choosing not to use AI. There is also a warning from another former Anthropic safety employee, Joe Benton, who left shortly after Jacib Coxon and issued similar grave concerns.

There has been an extraordinary expansion of AI in recent years from one where it answers questions to agents capable of taking actions on their own in the real world. The issue is no longer merely whether AI can produce an answer but whether an AI system can independently pursue an objective through the internet and computer systems.

To understand the magnitude of the problem a brief review of the evolution of AI will be in order. Three phases of AI are be discussed below :

(1) Traditional AI answers a human’s questions by using the large language model (LLM). (2) Generative AI produces text, images, code, analysis etc. (3) Agentic AI can plan, use tools, access the internet, execute commands and pursue a goal with less or no human oversight and intervention.

The significance of the recent incidents mentioned above is however not that AI has suddenly become ‘evil’. Rather, the point to note is that greater autonomy creates the possibility of unintended consequences because of machine scale and speed. This provides the bridge to the warnings from the whistleblowers inside the industry. The broader concerns within AI safety research identified by the critics are : loss of human control, autonomous cyberattacks, increasingly capable AI systems improving or assisting the creation of successor systems, misuse by states, corporations or individuals, autonomous weapons, biological/ chemical and other catastrophic misuse. The extreme scenario apprehended by AI researchers is the extinction of human race at the hands of super smart AI models. Apart from the mid (ten years) to long term existential threat of AI the persistent criticism about the downsides of the use of AI in industry, business and services sector have been about substitution of machines with AI of works traditionally done by human labour, physical and mental.

The employment consequences of AI are already visible, although it is important to make a distinction between jobs lost because of AI and layoffs occurring because of technological transformation without AI. According to a US consulting firm, Challenger, Gray and and Christmas, there have been 112,713 job cuts in the first seven months of 2026, accounting for 24 per cent of all job cuts during that period.

Since Challenger began separately tracking AI as a factor for layoffs in 2023, it has recorded 184,538 job cuts due to AI. Complete count of jobs eliminated worldwide has not been made and so the above figures refer only to the case of America. The long- term picture is more complicated. The World Economic Forum’s ‘Future of Jobs Report 2025’, based on employers’ expectations rather than observed job losses, projected that technological and other economic changes could displace 92 million jobs globally by 2030, while creating 102 million new ones, producing a projected net increase of 10 millions.

It also found that 41 per cent of employers expected to reduce their workforce as AI automates certain tasks. Thus the available evidence points to significant job loss in the near future as a result of AI, particularly in some technology-intensive occupations. But the larger question is whether AI will ultimately destroy more employment than it creates. Equally important is the question whether workers displaced by AI can acquire the skills required for the new economy.

The common experience of all countries is that as a result of use of AI the entry level jobs in almost all developed economies have been wiped out. Equally affected have been people engaged in part-time work done online in so called ‘gig economy’. This year has brought a reckoning for while collar gig platforms like Fiverr and Upwork, which connect companies to freelancers all over the world to complete well-defined projects such as copywriting or graphic designs. It turns out that by breaking jobs into parts that are performed remotely, stripping them of the need for institutional knowledge or personal relationships, they have made that work particularly vulnerable to being replaced by AI. Fiverr reported a ‘clear deceleration in overall market place traffic and demand’ in the second quarter of the current year.

The firm attributed this in part to ‘recent model updates across various LLMs,’ and said, ‘put simply, AI is automating simple tasks’.

In last June, the head of China’s biggest commerce groups warned that its 700,000 delivery workers would be replaced by robots, sooner or later. In the United States (US) and China, drivers on platforms such as Uber and DIDI eye the arrival of self-driving cars with deep unease.

Gig platform have become a safety net for people who have fallen out of or struggled to access the formal labour market. A report by World Bank in 2023 estimated there were between 154 million and 435 million online gig workers, globally, representing between 4.4 and 12.5 per cent of the global labour force. Among the advantages of this development, according to this report’s authors, are that it helps manage income shocks and serves as unemployment insurance. So, what happens when the shock absorber gets hit with a shock of its own? The report asks. Because nobody employs gig workers, there is nobody to fire them either. Instead, the impact is likely to unfold under the radar in the form of fewer tasks and lower incomes, rather than the sort of job losses that usually traces.

The gig economy was never a great safety net, since it left people with no employment rights or protections, and patchy support from government in terms of protection and benefits. But now there is a new danger: robots are quietly replacing humans. Policy makers are not noticing this because it is happening under their radar.

A recent International Monetary Fund IMF) report has said that AI could lift European productivity by about one per cent over five years but risks widening inequality, straining power networks and increasing dependence on foreign technology unless European Union (EU) deepens economic integration. The report prepared for a meeting of EU finance ministers in Dublin on 18-19 September, said the benefits and costs of AI are likely to be distributed unevenly across countries, regions and workers. The report estimated that around 60 per cent of workers in advanced European economies are employed in occupations highly exposed to AI. While some could become more productive through AI tools, others faced displacement as routine tasks become automated, particularly in jobs where AI is more likely to replace labour than complement it. The report said that Europe’s data centres serving AI already consume 3 per cent of the continent’s electricity and that demand would rise sharply as AI use expands. The report also warned that Europe risks developing another strategic dependence because the US and China dominate the development of AI models.

The report’s indication about productivity increase and warning about growing use of energy in data centres and uneven benefits of AI across classes apply to all countries, while dependency on foreign technology refer to all countries except America and China. The benefits of use of AI in various sectors like industries, medical care, education, research and education are by now well documented as are its negative economic impacts. So far the balance of costs and benefits has been shown to be tilted toward the latter. But the latest revelation about existential threat to humans posed by AI has presented a problem that cannot be rationalised. The fact that the warning has come from insiders make the prospect of the doom’s day very much credible. Even the heads of leading tech giants have admitted that the dire consequences predicted by insiders can become reality in future. While announcing the rolling out of a new AI model to counter OpenAI’s momentum since its launch of GPT-6, the CEO of Anthropic, Dario Amodei, called in a paper written by him, on all the global AI community to slow down the pace of releasing new capabilities to address safety concerns. Dario Amodei’s paper painted a bleak picture of swarms of AI agents, taking over the internet and outpacing human control. His prognosis drew support from OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and SpaceX CEO Elon Mask.

The Financial Time editorial Board wrote recently: “There is a Jekyll-and-Hyde quality to the world’s most powerful AI bosses. The same executives now talking about slowing the pace of work on cutting-edge models given the risks to humanity have been competing hell-for-leather to advance AI, chasing trillion-dollar flotations. But the backing of two AI titans — Sam Altman of OpenAI and Elon Musk of SpaceX — for the slowdown call by a third, Dario Amodei of Anthropic, ought to become a watershed moment for the industry.” ( The FT View, Sept 14, 2026) Financial Times believes such co- operation among tech giants are unlikely but the slowdown calls suggest the companies realise it is time to act. ‘”They should use their power to slow, or better still to pause development of the most advanced frontier models until the risks can be understood and contained,” the FT editorial argued.

President Trump described the doomsday scenario as a ‘hoax’ and dismissed the calls for slowing down AI as ‘negative forces’, insisting America must beat China in the AI race. He recently announced the setting up of a ‘AI Force’ and appointing a ‘Czar’ to head the body. China is also interested in boosting development of AI in the interest of economic growth and modernising military technology. But instead of going alone it believes in multi-lateral co-operation and co-ordination to avoid risks. During his recent state visit to Washington President Xi reiterated his belief in mutual co- operation with America on AI development and international regulation of the advanced models. According to another FT Editorial Board write up, the US officials think the Chinese seem less concerned about AI’s risks to humanity than about its risk to Chinese Communist Party control. The FT Editorial Board believes for all their mutual suspicions Washington and Beijing have shared vulnerabilities in which it would be in their interests to co-operate and which could form the basis for the AI dialogue between the two superpowers.

So long academia warned about the risks of untrammelled progress and use of AI. They have not been taken seriously so far. Now that insiders from within the AI industry have become whistleblowers and bosses of leading AI companies have admitted the risks of runaway breakthroughs in the cutting-edge technology the race to the bottom may be reined in. Policy makers cannot afford to see science fiction becoming real.​

 

[Saif]

https://www.thedailystar.net/business/economy/news/bangladesh-launch-sovereign-ai-within-year-4294046

Bangladesh to launch sovereign AI within a year

Star Business Report

Bangladesh plans to launch its sovereign artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure within the next 12 months and make it available to the private sector, startups, universities and students, said Rehan Asad, adviser to the prime minister on ICT and telecommunications.

The infrastructure will allow local developers to build large language models (LLMs) in Bangla and develop AI-based services, he added.

“Most of the major global tech partnerships are already at a mature stage. We have secured the sourcing of computing chips,” Rehan said at the AI and Innovation Dialogue jointly organised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Governance Innovation Unit of the Prime Minister’s Office at the foreign ministry in Dhaka yesterday.

“We will launch our sovereign AI infrastructure within the next 12 months and open it to the private sector, startups, universities and students to build future LLMs in Bangla and develop innovative services,” he said.

The government has opted for a small, modular facility instead of building a large AI centre from the outset, Rehan said.

If demand from the private sector is strong, locally owned companies could co-locate at the facility and use its computing infrastructure, he added.

The government is also working to secure high-end graphics processing units (GPUs), which are needed to train and run advanced AI models.

Rehan said Bangladesh would be able to secure the world’s best GPUs for government data centres and Bangladesh-owned private companies through ongoing government-to-government discussions.

Securing high-end GPUs can be difficult, as delivery times can stretch to several years even when buyers have sufficient funds, he said.

“We will not face challenges in securing GPUs very soon,” Rehan said, adding that work was underway to ensure access to advanced computing hardware.

The government is also working to secure memory chips and plans to hold discussions with major industry players, with the aim of ensuring adequate supplies of both computing and memory chips for the next decade.

POWER, WATER CONCERNS

Power and water availability will be major considerations in developing AI infrastructure, Rehan said.

A conventional Google search uses about 0.3 watt-hours of electricity, while an AI-generated response on current platforms can use around 2.9 watt-hours, he said. This means AI computing is much more power-intensive.

Although AI systems are expected to become more efficient as the technology advances, overall electricity demand will remain a concern, he added.

Water availability is also important because AI infrastructure requires significant cooling capacity.

The government is therefore considering both power and water availability when selecting locations for AI facilities, Rehan said.

He added that the facilities would have multiple power sources and their own power-generation capacity instead of relying entirely on the national grid, as uninterrupted power is essential for such operations.

Ashfaq Zaman, founder of Dhaka Forum, said Bangladesh already has the basic building blocks of a digital state, including biometric NIDs, mobile financial services, a national QR code standard, around 300 million archived Bangla documents and D-Nothi across 17,000 offices.

“The real constraint is not the lack of systems but their failure to connect. AI can help bridge this gap. A single Bangla large language model for the government, trained on public-sector documents and hosted domestically, could help officials review drafts instead of starting from scratch,” said Ashfaq, who delivered a keynote at the event.

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If each officer saves 20 minutes a day, 250,000 officers could save about 10,400 working years each year, he said.

Such gains should be measured through public-service targets covering time, cost and the number of interactions required, turning AI into a measurable governance reform, Ashfaq said.

He added that this would allow AI adoption to be assessed based on measurable improvements in public services rather than simply treating it as an information technology project.

Md Ismail Zabihullah, adviser to the prime minister on public administration affairs, said AI is no longer just a policy ambition but is becoming a practical tool for transforming public administration.

AI-enabled recruitment and postings, along with a unified digital identity and wallet, can make government services faster, more transparent and more citizen-focused, he said.

At the same time, strong data protection and cybersecurity must remain a priority.

Bangladesh should also move beyond being a technology consumer and build the capacity to develop, own and export high-value technology products and AI-based services, he added.

Humaiun Kobir, state minister-1 at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Shama Obaed Islam, state minister-2, also spoke.​

 

[Saif]

Is AI weakening young minds?

"Miss, do you know, these answers can be sorted easily?" "Seriously, how?" "My teacher at school told me that I can complete my homework from ChatGPT. It gives all the answers, and it is quick." I paused. These words were uttered by my 12-year-old student during a private tutoring session, who s

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

Is AI weakening young minds?

"Miss, do you know, these answers can be sorted easily?"

"Seriously, how?"

"My teacher at school told me that I can complete my homework from ChatGPT. It gives all the answers, and it is quick."

I paused. These words were uttered by my 12-year-old student during a private tutoring session, who studies in one of the reputed English version schools.

If a child is encouraged to use artificial intelligence (AI) at this young age, simply because it provides answers faster, I cannot help but to simply ask, where is the education heading to?

Technology has always evolved and with that we have learned the way to communicate with it. While employing technology in our daily lives, what we make sure is that, we are utilising it and it is not using us. When a child tells that it gives quick answers for their homework, what concerns the most is that, are these children having the opportunity to struggle with the question?

If a child's cognitive development relies on a machine, especially at the age of twelve, their ability to question, reason, interpret, express an opinion and communicate an idea will gradually compromised.

This narration doesn't really establish the fact that we must stop handing them over technology. Rather, we must challenge them to ensure that it expands their ability to think instead of them getting replaced by it. A world which is AI-driven and advancing, the purpose of education should be to make children technologically capable and intellectually independent, not making them dependent on technology.

Norway in 2024, banned using smartphones in classroom, and it successfully found positive results as students were more engaged, social and reduced online bullying. Furthermore, from Autumn 2026, Norway recommends that students should not have access to generative AI in their primary schools. Students from grade one to seven are restricted using AI, while for grade eight to ten students they can gradually and cautiously use it. By the time students are in upper secondary schools, they should be prepared to utilize AI that will prepare them for higher education and work.

According Norwegian PM Jonas GahrStøre, technology risks developing foundational steps for children especially in learning to read, write and for basic mathematics. It also declines in critical thinking. When children get depended on finding instant answers, their problem-solving skills, logical reasoning or the ability to analyze complex issues independently, will start to stagnate.

However, Poland had a different approach. The government planned to equip 12000 AI Labs in their primary and secondary schools. As per Polish PM Donald Tusk, children must learn to control AI than being controlled by it. The crucial responsibility for the younger generation would be to have sense of control over technologies they utilize, and not to underestimate the risk comes with it.

How developing countries can utilise it without compromising on young minds?

Education system around the world must not choose between restricting AI and embracing it. In fact, it must develop a framework: protect, prepare, practice and apply. The first stage of learning is to protect children's foundation which is built through years of reading, writing, mathematics and problem-solving skills without relying on generative AI.

Preparing students how to use technology is the second stage. Here they will understand that technology fails and verification about an information is important. In this phase, they will understand digital world and AI. In the third stage practice begins. This is where students would question an argument, they must compare perspective and challenge their own reasoning then simply getting an answer. Lastly, they can begin to apply higher-level projects, research and creative work while they will still continue to think, decide and communicate the final outcome.

This approach will make children technologically capable without becoming intellectually dependent, ensuring that AI strengthens their learning rather than replacing the process through which learning takes place.

As my student addressed about the way he is using AI to get his school homework done, he is skipping his productive struggle and getting fewer opportunities to practice reasoning. Reasoning are usually expressed through communication. Hence when a child gets himself over dependent on AI at the age of twelve, it will affect their communication development. For this case, teachers must protect independent thinking before introducing AI and then it can be taught as a questioning tool, verification and exploration.

If teachers start handing over AI to children for homework, how will these children be able to compete with AI, if they rely on AI? A child who never practices to solve a question by himself, will he be able to formulate an idea?

While in primary schools, children are still learning to read, write, understand grammar, ask questions and solve mathematics. Teachers must establish syllabus that make children independent thinkers. Children from primary schools must not access AI, until they become expert in their basic learning and problem-solving skills. Teachers can use AI for appropriate planning and preparation, but it should not be used as a shortcut that transfers the learning task to the child.

Without making generative AI their first source of every answer, they can be introduced to use this tool to search for information, compare sources, identify misinformation, use spreadsheets and presentation tools. AI can be utilised to create digital projects, learn basic coding, multimedia content and ideas can be communicated through technology. These activities will continue to engage students and they will be encouraged to think, make decision and boost creativity.

AI is advancing with time. This technology cannot be eliminated from our daily lives, but for students, it can be utilised in ways that can develop their strong digital skills without relying on AI for every answer without compromising on their critical thinking and problem-solving skills. The main goal here is to keep children responsible to think, make decision and boost creativity, which can happen through these activities.

The principle should be simple: technology should assist the learner, not replace the learner.

The most concerning notion here is not about a child using AI. Due to its popularity, children will use and implement it in their daily lives. These days, this technology is becoming a necessity. This is something which cannot be eliminated. Perhaps the correct question to ask is that even if they use AI, what kind of learner they will become in the future?

Children may finish their homework in seconds. But their education won't be measured how quick the homework was completed. Rather, if they understood their lessons, are they developing the habit of asking questions, finding reasons, solving-problems, engaging in daily communication and if they are being able to make independent judgement. Hence, teachers at school must not make convenience important than learning. Before a child's foundational development, technology must not be introduced. Hence, the responsibility that arises for teachers is that technology must not replace human. Space can be created when children begin to think independently, use technology intelligently and return to human communication to explain what they have learned.

Our achievement here will not only be to teach children who can ask AI anything. They should be taught to know what to ask, why they should ask, how the information can be verified and if they agree to the result it has provided. For Bangladesh and other developing countries, children deserve education that creates a strong foundational ability which is required anywhere in the world. A future-ready child is not someone who is most advanced in technology but who can use without surrendering their independent thought on it. Thus, AI in education must be used ethically that creates future leaders.

Finding quick answer is not the solution for all the problems but struggling and spending time to find the right answer to become an independent thinker is the correct definition of education. Education is never meant to be a race. When children are given the opportunity to think, question and solve question for themselves, they build a lifelong stronger foundation. AI can accelerate learning. But it should never accelerate a child past the learning itself.

The writer is a media analyst.​

 

[Saif]

Navigating the US-China rivalry: Bangladesh cannot outsource its AI sovereignty

As Washington and Beijing build rival AI blocs, Bangladesh must safeguard sovereignty without rushing into either alliance.

www.thedailystar.net

Navigating the US-China rivalry: Bangladesh cannot outsource its AI sovereignty

Ayesha Tariq

On the morning of August 1, the United States (US) Special Envoy for South and Central Asia, Sergio Gor, met Prime Minister Tarique Rahman in Dhaka and suggested that Bangladesh join Pax Silica, the State Department's coalition for artificial intelligence (AI), semiconductor and critical mineral supply chains. Later that day, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that Bangladesh would join the Shanghai-based World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization (WAICO), initially as an observer. Dhaka faces a diplomatic balancing act, even if it has made few concrete commitments so far.

The two blocs offer different things. Pax Silica, launched in Washington in December 2025, began with seven signatories, including Japan, Singapore and the United Kingdom, and had grown to twenty-five by August, according to the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation. It is widely seen as an effort to reduce reliance on China. WAICO, founded in Shanghai on July 16 by twenty-nine countries, including Russia and Pakistan, presents itself as a development-focused and more inclusive alternative. Its pitch is aimed at developing countries that regard Western technology controls as a barrier.

Dhaka has reasons to maintain close ties with both. China supplied between 28% and 30% of Bangladesh’s monthly imports in the last quarter of 2024, making it the country’s largest source of imports. The US, for its part, is the largest single destination for Bangladeshi goods. Beyond Washington's existing ties with Dhaka, Gor saw considerable potential in information technology, and the two sides discussed American investment in warehousing and agriculture, as well as financing through the US International Development Finance Corporation. Those talks point to a partnership that is broadening beyond exports, much as China’s role already extends across trade, industrial zones and river management, as demonstrated by the 13 memorandums signed during the Prime Minister’s visit in June.

For now, Dhaka can maintain ties with both blocs because it has made no binding commitment to either. That could change once each bloc establishes rules governing which vendors and data it trusts. A country whose systems can operate under either set of rules can negotiate over the terms, while one tied to a single supplier must accept the conditions set by that supplier’s bloc.

As the US-led Pax Silica and China-backed WAICO compete to shape the future of artificial intelligence, Bangladesh faces the challenge of safeguarding its technological sovereignty while navigating the rivalry between Washington and Beijing. Illustration: AI-generated

The draft National AI Policy for 2026 to 2030 shows what sovereignty requires. It promises a national computing strategy with phased upgrades to high-performance computing infrastructure at the National Data Centre, and it requires sensitive datasets, including health, biometric, financial and national security data, to be stored and processed in Bangladesh or in jurisdictions designated as trusted. The policy has yet to be approved by the current government, but its proposed guidelines are sound. However, we must remember that computing depends on electricity, and a national data centre will compete for a power supply that must already serve homes, industries and hospitals. The energy crisis we faced this year made it particularly apparent that we need better planning and a more reliable electricity supply. A facility that cannot rely on the grid cannot host a state's most sensitive systems, so the final policy should link the computing strategy to an agreed electricity plan.

The hardware question leads back to geopolitics. Bangladesh does not manufacture advanced chips, so every processor in a national data centre will have to be imported through supply chains that one bloc or the other controls. The policy's reference to 'trusted' jurisdictions raises the obvious question of who determines which jurisdictions can be trusted, and Washington and Beijing will answer it differently.

The Philippines offers a warning about moving too quickly. Its planned economic security zone at New Clark City, covering 4,000 acres, could require up to three gigawatts of electricity at full development, according to estimates by the agency in charge. The mayor of Capas in Tarlac province has said that the plan was not formally presented to his local government, the Daily Tribune reported. Joining a coalition does not eliminate the need for the power supply, local consent and legal groundwork that a project of that size requires.

In the AI era, strategic autonomy is as much a matter of system design as it is of diplomacy. A government that can move its workloads between cloud providers and replace one AI model with another without rebuilding its services keeps its options open. A government whose public services depend on a single company's technology has effectively chosen a side.

The draft policy already recognises this, requiring public-sector AI systems to use open standards, interoperable data formats and portable models specifically to prevent vendor lock-in. The task now is to incorporate those requirements into every contract before the first large-scale systems are built, since retrofitting them later would cost far more.

In the AI era, strategic autonomy is as much a matter of system design as it is of diplomacy. A government that can move its workloads between cloud providers and replace one AI model with another without rebuilding its services keeps its options open. A government whose public services depend on a single company's technology has effectively chosen a side.

The choice of AI model is where this matters most. Open-weight models, which can be downloaded, hosted domestically and adapted using Bangla-language data, offer one of the most practical routes to developing systems that the state can control. However, open models also have national affiliations. Meta's Llama and Alibaba's Qwen are both freely available, yet a ministry that standardises on either one ties its developers and their tools to an ecosystem anchored in either Washington or Beijing. Dhaka should test competing models against the same Bangla-language benchmarks and ensure that its systems remain capable of running more than one model. The choice of model should be treated as a procurement decision that can be reversed when a better or safer alternative becomes available.

The second test of sovereignty is people. AI capability cannot be bought once and for all, because models are regularly replaced and the threats they address continue to evolve. A ministry that relies on foreign advisers and vendors to operate its systems holds a service contract, while the knowledge remains with the supplier. Without that knowledge at home, Bangladesh risks becoming a low-cost site for other countries' systems, with the valuable design work and profits remaining abroad, regardless of which bloc supplies the technology.

These issues matter most in national security. AI has made it cheaper to conduct disinformation campaigns and harder to verify what is real, and security agencies are likely to be among the government's earliest and most demanding users of the technology. They are also among the most likely to purchase complete systems from abroad, even though dependence on a foreign supplier in this sector carries particularly high costs.

The measure of progress should be how quickly Bangladeshi officials take over the work, and the vendor certification framework proposed in the draft policy is the natural place to make this a requirement. Every significant AI contract should set deadlines by which local staff must take responsibility for operating the systems and making technical decisions, with suppliers' payments tied partly to the success of that handover. Bangladesh has around 700 chip designers and produces more than 20,000 computer science and electrical engineering graduates each year, providing a potential talent pool for developing domestic AI capabilities. The state's challenge is recruiting and retaining enough of them by offering salaries that can compete with those in the private sector.

US Special Envoy for South and Central Asia Sergio Gor meets Prime Minister Tarique Rahman at the Prime Minister’s Office in Dhaka on August 1, 2026. During the meeting, Gor proposed that Bangladesh join the US-led Pax Silica initiative, which focuses on artificial intelligence, semiconductors and critical mineral supply chains.

Over the next two years, both blocs are likely to move from broad declarations to specific conditions, attaching rules governing vendors, data and computing access to their offers of investment and technology. Bangladesh should retain its observer status in WAICO and continue discussions about Pax Silica, while refraining from fully joining either until it can offer capabilities that its partners need. In the meantime, the final policy should ensure a reliable power supply for national computing facilities and establish a technically skilled cadre within the government capable of operating and evaluating AI systems, supported by enforceable portability requirements in every public-sector technology contract.

At the UN General Assembly on September 24, Prime Minister Tarique Rahman said Bangladesh did not want today's digital divide to become tomorrow's AI divide. Closing that gap will depend less on which bloc Dhaka eventually joins than on whether it develops systems it can operate, modify and manage on its own terms. A country with that capacity can work with Washington and Beijing simultaneously and negotiate with both, while a country without it will find that its suppliers have effectively made the choice on its behalf.

Ayesha Tariq, CFA, is the CEO and co-founder of MacroVisor, an independent macro research firm.​

 

[Saif]

https://www.newagebd.net/post/banking/317409/experts-for-building-ai-ready-banking-fintech-ecosystem

Experts for building AI-ready banking, fintech ecosystem
Staff Correspondent . Dhaka

A panel discussion titled ‘Innovating for the Next Decade – AI, Digital Banks & the Future of Financial Services in Bangladesh’ is held as part of the 6th Bangladesh Fintech Summit in the capital on Saturday. | Press release photo

Banks and financial technology companies in Bangladesh need to embrace artificial intelligence, build practical AI skills, and strengthen collaboration to create a more efficient, secure, and inclusive digital financial ecosystem, experts said on Saturday.

They said that AI could improve banking operations, automate routine tasks, strengthen fraud detection and expand access to financial services.

Universities and financial institutions should also work together to prepare a workforce capable of applying the technology in practice, they added.

They made the remarks at a panel discussion titled ‘Innovating for the Next Decade – AI, Digital Banks & the Future of Financial Services in Bangladesh’ at the 6th Bangladesh Fintech Summit, organised by the Bangladesh Brand Forum in the capital.

Pubali Bank managing director and chief executive officer Mohammad Ali said that banks should integrate AI into account opening, identity verification, anti-money laundering compliance, loan processing and portfolio analysis.

AI-based systems could speed up account opening and help banks make faster decisions on personal, car and home loans, he said.

The technology could also help bank executives analyse corporate and small- and medium-enterprise portfolios and improve risk management, he added.

Mohammad Ali suggested setting up AI laboratories within individual departments to encourage practical applications across banking operations.

AI could eventually handle most routine, straight-through processing, leaving human employees to interpret complex cases and make decisions requiring judgement, he said.

He also called on universities to focus on practical AI applications in banking, including balance-sheet and cash-flow analysis, credit assessment, risk mitigation and regulatory compliance, rather than concentrating mainly on prototype development.

Shyamol B Das, managing director and chief executive officer of UCB Fintech Company Limited, which operates mobile financial service upay, said that banks and fintech companies should work together by combining fintech innovation with banks’ established services and customer trust.

He highlighted the potential of digital platforms and agent networks to reach underserved customers, while banks could provide credit and other financial products.

He said that better interoperability and cooperation among financial institutions could also help them use transaction histories to assess customers’ creditworthiness and expand financial inclusion.

Zakia Sultana Laboni, country manager of Mastercard Bangladesh, said that institutions should integrate AI into financial systems from the design stage to identify and prevent fraud and other risks, rather than responding only after problems occur.

She also stressed the importance of cybersecurity in digital banking, saying that security should be built into systems from the outset.

She called for continuous learning and stronger collaboration among technology companies, financial institutions and universities to develop AI-ready skills.

The speakers also highlighted embedded finance, digital wallets and agent networks as ways to make financial services more accessible, particularly to underserved customers.

They said that practical training and lifelong learning would be essential as AI reshaped banking and financial services.

In his welcome address, Sajid Mahbub, group chief executive officer and executive editor of the Bangladesh Brand Forum, said the next chapter of Bangladesh’s fintech journey would depend on how effectively the country turned digital adoption into lasting financial capability.

‘Innovation must make financial services more useful and accessible, while strengthening the trust people place in them. This requires institutions, entrepreneurs, and policymakers to work together on the infrastructure and standards that will support our financial future,’ he said.

Representatives from domestic and international banks, fintech companies, technology firms, financial institutions, and academia took part in three panel discussions, keynote sessions, and other sessions at the event.​

 

[Saif]

Can AI fix what cheap labour cannot in Bangladesh?

Artificial intelligence cannot resolve Bangladesh's garment productivity deficit unless factories first reform core management and operational capabilities.

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Can AI fix what cheap labour cannot in Bangladesh?

Mukhtar Ahmed

Bangladesh's garment industry is often explained by its low wages, yet research conducted inside its factories shows that wages do not explain why some firms perform far better than others. In a study of nearly 100 Bangladeshi factories, economists led by Christopher Woodruff and Rocco Macchiavello measured the efficiency of individual sewing lines. Lines at the 90th percentile were about 50 per cent more efficient than those at the 10th percentile, and the differences persisted over time, often between lines on the same factory floor. Capital investment accounted for only a small part of the gap.

Since the lines drew on the same labour market and paid broadly the same wages, labour costs could not account for it either. The researchers' wider work points to supervision and management as a large part of the answer.

I approach this evidence as an outsider. I am neither an economist nor a manufacturer; my work is in biotech, where I help decide which drug programmes deserve scarce capital and which should be stopped. That work consists largely of acting on incomplete evidence, and it has left me sceptical of a belief that accompanies almost every new technology: that a powerful tool will raise the performance of everyone who adopts it.

The belief that artificial intelligence will transform industries is now widespread. Bangladesh's garment industry, which earned $38.7 billion between July 2025 and June 2026 and accounted for about 80.6 per cent of the country's merchandise exports, employs around four million people, most of whom are women. AI may become widely accessible, but access alone does not guarantee economic returns. Firms with stronger management, better data and established processes appear better positioned to extract value from it. Whether AI ultimately widens or narrows productivity gaps remains an empirical question. Bangladesh still relies on cheap labour, but factory evidence indicates that labour costs alone cannot explain competitiveness.

Energy and finance come first, as the World Bank's Franziska Ohnsorge acknowledged this month when she urged governments to close the foundational gaps that hold back AI adoption.

What has changed

Most of what has changed this year has little to do with algorithms. In 2025, Vietnam overtook Bangladesh in apparel exports, shipping $39.6 billion worth of clothing against Bangladesh's $38.8 billion. Bangladesh's garment earnings fell by a further 1.6 per cent in the fiscal year ending in June.

The domestic environment has also deteriorated. In August, falling gas pressure left most factories around Dhaka operating at 60 to 70 per cent of capacity, according to BGMEA. Bangladesh is scheduled to leave the UN's list of least developed countries on 24 November, with implications for its preferential market access, although a request to defer graduation until 2029 remains before the General Assembly.

Buyers, meanwhile, want more information; the European Commission plans to adopt rules for a textile digital product passport in late 2027, requiring suppliers to provide structured data on materials and origins. AI adoption on Bangladeshi factory floors remains at an early stage and is largely vendor-led. Available international research cannot establish how widely Bangladesh's garment firms use AI or what returns they obtain.

The limits of the old advantage

Low wages built the industry, and they still help secure orders for basic clothing. The comparative evidence nonetheless indicates that cheap labour alone does not make an industry productive. Vietnam overtook Bangladesh while paying higher wages and selling a more diversified, higher-value product mix.

The most rigorous evidence comes from inside firms. In a randomised experiment published in 2013, Nicholas Bloom and colleagues provided free management consulting to Indian textile mills and found that productivity rose by 17 per cent within a year through better quality, higher efficiency and leaner inventories. The mills had not adopted these practices chiefly because they did not know about them, and badly run mills had survived because competition was too weak to force them out. Wages establish a baseline for competitiveness, while the organisation of production determines how far a firm can exceed it.

Research identifies supervision and management as major factors behind productivity differences across sewing lines, even within the same factory. Photo: Mehhedi Hasan

Two technologies, two stories

Public debate in Dhaka often treats automation and AI as a single threat, though they operate differently and call for different responses. Automation can reduce the labour needed for particular tasks; its effect on total employment also depends on production volumes, new roles, wages, investment and market demand. A 2024 study by the Bangladesh Labour Foundation, BRAC University and Solidaridad reported reductions in labour requirements of about 31 per cent across the production processes studied, including 48 per cent in cutting and 37 per cent per line in sweater factories. These are findings from that study, not a measure of industry-wide job losses. Helpers, women and less-educated workers were particularly exposed.

Rubana Huq, whose Mohammadi Group runs automated sweater knitting operations, reported in 2018 that her factories had shed 500 jobs, and the Centre for Policy Dialogue estimated in July this year that up to 1.22 million garment jobs could disappear by 2041. Sewing, which employs most of the workforce, remains difficult to automate fully because robots still struggle to handle flexible fabric, and Miran Ali of BGMEA has said the industry will not fully embrace automation.

AI software affects workers indirectly by planning production, balancing lines, detecting defects and recording output. Oli Ahad, founder of Dhaka AI Lab, has argued that the industry has no choice but to adopt it, while trade unionist SM Ahasan Habib Bulbul has called for the gains from monitoring to be reinvested in workers. For most workers, the immediate questions are who sets the pace of work and who controls the data generated by their work.

Women are at the centre of both developments. Their share of the garment workforce fell to about 58 per cent by 2020, partly as automation eliminated helper roles, while at the start of the GEAR programme, 19 out of every 20 line supervisors were men. GEAR trained women operators to become supervisors, and an assessment by Oxford and BRAC University, published by the IFC and ILO in 2025, found that their lines were 2.5 to 4.3 percentage points more efficient than those of untrained supervisors, a gain worth up to $182,000 a year for a typical 20-line factory. A separate randomised trial found that women supervisors initially lagged behind their male counterparts, largely because workers doubted their abilities, but matched men's performance within four to six months. Automation pushes women out at the bottom of the factory hierarchy, while management practices keep them out of supervisory roles; the latter problem reduces output and is less costly to address.

Why organisation matters for AI

The World Bank's World Development Report, published in August, includes a finding that should shape this debate. Its supporting research distinguishes access to technology from the intensity of its use. Direct evidence from a survey of Romanian firms shows that AI adoption is concentrated among larger, more productive and better-managed firms. The researchers caution that these findings do not establish causal effects or represent all developing countries. A study of British firms by Cambridge's Bennett Institute reinforces the point. Firms with better management practices in 2020 were significantly more likely to have adopted AI by 2023, yet the same practices did not predict the adoption of robots or specialised equipment. These findings identify an advantage in adoption; they do not establish which firms will capture most of the eventual productivity gains.

The probable reason is practical. AI tools used for planning and quality control depend on reliable operational data and on the decisions taken in response to their recommendations. My own field offers a parallel. In drug discovery, computational tools can generate predictions and rank opportunities. Their commercial value depends on the quality of the evidence, the experimental systems used to validate those predictions and the organisation's willingness to discontinue unsuccessful projects. In portfolio management, a promising prediction is a reason to design the next experiment, not sufficient grounds to commit more capital. The software does not supply that judgement.

Buyers are moving more quickly than factories. Shein, the online retailer, makes 100 to 200 pieces of each new style, reorders only what sells and runs its suppliers on its own software. In the Oxford data, lines producing for higher-end buyers were more efficient even within the same factory. In July, Ha-Meem Group signed an agreement with the robotics company Robonauts that lists workforce development ahead of automation, which is the sequence this evidence recommends.

The strongest objection

A factory owner in Gazipur could reasonably object that this inverts the order of problems. Supervisor training improves line efficiency by a few percentage points, whereas this year's gas shortages have cut capacity by a third or more across much of the industry. Losing least-developed-country status could add tariffs of around 9 per cent in Europe and the UK on key products, according to one think tank's estimate, while credit remains scarce and costly. Miran Ali made a version of this argument in 2024, blaming power cuts and port and road congestion for much of the industry's low efficiency. The owner might add that buyers capture the gains. Mark Anner found that the prices American importers paid for Bangladeshi trousers fell by about 41 per cent between 2000 and 2014, even as lead times shortened, and AI may concentrate demand data further in buyers' hands.

AI software affects workers indirectly by planning production, balancing lines, detecting defects and recording output.
Much of this is correct, and my argument must acknowledge it. Energy and finance come first, as the World Bank's Franziska Ohnsorge acknowledged this month when she urged governments to close the foundational gaps that hold back AI adoption. The objection nonetheless underestimates how shocks operate. Bloom's mills showed that badly run firms survive when pressure is low, and the next three years will not be such a period. Even August's crisis prompted an organisational response, with BGMEA reporting that factories ran dyeing units during off-peak hours to build fabric stocks while continuing to pay workers. Some managed this; others did not. Capability is also a source of bargaining power, since a factory that can supply small batches, traceable data and consistent quality can choose buyers who tend to pay more. The argument therefore survives in a narrower form. Energy, finance and market access will determine whether the industry retains its scale; organisational capability may help explain which firms within it adapt successfully. AI could raise the cost of lacking that capability, but whether it also helps firms acquire it remains to be tested.

Public debate in Bangladesh often treats automation and AI as a single threat, although they operate differently and require different responses.

What would prove this wrong

There is a serious possibility that AI could help weaker firms catch up. In the best-known field study of generative AI at work, Erik Brynjolfsson, Danielle Li and Lindsey Raymond found that an AI assistant raised the productivity of more than 5,000 customer-support agents by 14 per cent on average, with novices becoming about a third more productive and the most experienced workers gaining almost nothing. The tool appeared to make experienced workers' practices more accessible to newcomers. Call centre evidence cannot be transferred directly to garment manufacturing, but it raises a question: could inexpensive planning and inspection tools give weaker factories access to capabilities they currently lack? If those factories achieve larger, sustained efficiency gains, AI would be reducing an existing management disadvantage. Over the next three to five years, researchers should compare changes in efficiency among factories adopting AI with different levels of initial capability, accounting for changes in orders, product mix and other investments. A narrowing gap would challenge the hypothesis that AI mainly compounds existing advantages. Researchers such as Atonu Rabbani at the University of Dhaka and Christopher Woodruff at Oxford have worked with the line-level data needed to investigate this, provided factories and buyers are willing to share the relevant figures.

What follows

For factory owners, the sequence of investment matters more than its scale. Measurement should come first, because a firm that knows its standard minutes and defect rates can judge whether an AI tool helps, while one that does not must accept the vendor's figures. Investment in supervisors, including women, should follow, since the evidence supporting it is stronger than that for any software. Treat each AI product as a trial with a defined measure of success and a stop date, as disciplined drug developers do with their own programmes.

For the government, energy and finance remain the first priorities, and no technology policy can substitute for them. A cheaper step is measurement. A national survey using the World Bank's enterprise module on AI would show which firms are falling behind before the market does. Buyers, for their part, will obtain traceable, small-batch supplies sooner from suppliers who share in the gains.

The lesson extends beyond Bangladesh. For a decade, economists have asked whether automation will close the ladder of labour-intensive manufacturing that Korea, China and Bangladesh climbed. The evidence from Bangladesh's factory floors suggests another risk: that organisational weakness could limit firms' ability to benefit even while cheap labour continues to win orders. AI might deepen that disadvantage or help firms overcome it. The next test of Bangladesh's industrial competitiveness may be less about which factories acquire AI first than which can turn technology into measurable improvements in productivity, quality and reliability. The distinction will matter long after today's technologies have changed.

Mukhtar Ahmed, PhD, is a biotech executive and strategic adviser.​

 

[Saif]

How can Bangladesh become AI-sovereign?

The government's announcement that Bangladesh will have its own sovereign Artificial Intelligence (AI) infrastructure within a year is, no doubt, ambitious. At the AI and Innovation Dialogue in Dhaka on October 8, Prime Minister's Adviser for ICT and Telecommunications, Rehan Asif Asad, reportedly

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

How can Bangladesh become AI-sovereign?

The government's announcement that Bangladesh will have its own sovereign Artificial Intelligence (AI) infrastructure within a year is, no doubt, ambitious. At the AI and Innovation Dialogue in Dhaka on October 8, Prime Minister's Adviser for ICT and Telecommunications, Rehan Asif Asad, reportedly said the proposed computing facility would be accessible to universities, startups, private companies and students. They could develop Large Language Models (LLMs), especially in Bangla, and AI-based services. The government is also seeking advanced computing chips, especially Graphics Processing Units (GPUs). But what exactly does becoming an AI-sovereign nation mean? Do high-powered computers make a country technologically sovereign?

Not quite. AI sovereignty means a nation's ability to control the data, computing infrastructure and knowledge required to operate AI systems according to its needs. This does not mean producing every microchip or developing an original AI model. Even advanced countries depend on global supply chains for these. Bangladesh can begin by developing models suited to its language and different sectors of the economy using domestically managed computing facilities. So, the decision to start with a small, modular data centre rather than a grandiose establishment makes sense. But the one-year deadline should not be mistaken for the completion of the entire undertaking.

There is also a geopolitical dimension to this venture. The United States and China, the leading contestants for AI supremacy, are creating rival groupings to influence the technology's future. Washington's Pax Silica initiative and the China-backed World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization (WAICO) are cases in point. Bangladesh has reason to maintain relations with both powers. The USA remains a major export destination, while China is our biggest source of imported goods. But does it follow that the country's AI strategy should be beholden to either camp? Certainly not. The foreign policy of a sovereign nation should not be dictated by the rivalry of bigger powers, especially in a field that may determine its future economic and security interests.

This brings us to the question of procuring AI technology. Most advanced GPUs and important AI models are developed by a handful of foreign companies. So, dependence on outside suppliers cannot disappear overnight. But dependence must not turn into captivity. Procurement policy must avoid agreements obliging public institutions to use the hardware, software or cloud service of one vendor indefinitely. The systems should allow different AI models and computing products to work together and be replaced when necessary. Otherwise, after spending huge amounts of public money, we might discover that the country owns the machines but has little control over their operation.

Another challenge is developing the people to run these systems. Bangladesh produces computer science and engineering graduates every year. But how many among them possess the advanced skills required to train, adapt, test and secure AI models? And how many would work for the country when better-paid opportunities exist abroad? The government should involve universities, research institutes and technology companies in developing practical training programmes, while offering promising researchers access to the planned facility. Bangladeshi AI professionals overseas could also contribute. Merely importing expensive equipment without creating a skilled domestic workforce would be a wasteful exercise.

There are also the more prosaic but fundamental issues of electricity and water. AI data centres consume enormous amounts of power and generate heat that must be removed continuously. Bangladesh's existing national electricity grid, with its supply fluctuations and other limitations, can hardly be the sole source of energy for such a sensitive installation. Dedicated generation facilities, preferably drawing increasingly on renewable sources, along with storage and backup arrangements, should be planned from the outset. Equally important is dependable water for cooling. But that should not be achieved by depriving nearby communities of their drinking or irrigation water. Water-efficient, preferably closed-loop cooling arrangements deserve serious consideration.

The proposed National AI Policy for 2026-2030 should, therefore, go beyond declarations and lay down a practical programme for infrastructure, data protection, transparent procurement and manpower development. The aim should be to make Bangladesh capable of running and improving its own AI services without being at the mercy of foreign technology suppliers. That will take more than a year. But a beginning, if made on sound foundations, can open the way to genuine technological independence.​

 

[Saif]

IMF warns of AI market correction, cyber threats to financial system

The cautionary message was delivered by the International Monetary Fund's latest Global Financial Stability Report, published on the second day of its annual gatherings with the World Bank, held this year in Thailand's capital, Bangkok.

www.thedailystar.net

IMF warns of AI market correction, cyber threats to financial system

AFP

IMF Chief Economist Silvana Tenreyro (C) speaks next to IMF Research Department Deputy Director Petya Koeva Brooks (R) and IMF Communications Officer Jose Luis De Haro (L) during the World Economic Outlook press briefing at the Annual Meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank Group (WBG) at the Queen Sirikit National Convention Center (QSNCC) in Bangkok on October 13, 2026. Photo: AFP

The IMF warned on Tuesday of "elevated" risks faced by the global financial system, with potential perils including an AI-related market correction and cyber threats that could have "severe" consequences.

The cautionary message was delivered by the International Monetary Fund's latest Global Financial Stability Report, published on the second day of its annual gatherings with the World Bank, held this year in Thailand's capital, Bangkok.

"These risks are plausible near-term catalysts for a sharp tightening of financial conditions and market turmoil," the report said.

The recent boom in artificial intelligence -- and the related rush to manufacture semiconductors and build data centres -- has provided a boost to global growth despite geopolitical pressures including the Middle East war.

However, "growing evidence suggests that AI capabilities can be delivered at lower investment levels... or that potential economic gains may not be as large as expected," the IMF warned.

"Weaker or less durable AI investments and profitability could be a shock that triggers a market correction."

And while AI is increasingly a source of economic vitality globally, it is also presenting unprecedented risks, said the Fund.

"Severe cyber incidents could undermine market confidence and disrupt critical financial market infrastructure and operations," it said.

The report adds to growing worries about AI and its wide-ranging impact on labour markets, education and inequality.

In one widely covered incident in July, AI agents developed by US firm OpenAI hacked Hugging Face, an AI model and application library, as the autonomous software escaped its confined testing environment.

As AI capabilities continue to improve, the risk of successful cyberattacks on "critical financial institutions or market infrastructure" is getting "worse", the IMF said.

The "impact could be severe as rapid digitization has increased the attack surface".

While frontier AI models could be used to stage such attacks, they also have a role to play in cyber defence, the IMF said.

Another growing risk to the global financial system is a spike in bond yields, which could trigger severe shocks due to the "foundational importance of sovereign bond markets", said the report.

"Bond markets are susceptible to further rises in energy prices reigniting inflation and forcing the tightening of monetary policy."​

 

[Saif]

The geopolitics of truth: Is Bangladesh ready for AI diplomacy?

Artificial intelligence is reshaping geopolitics by influencing political perceptions, challenging information sovereignty and redefining Bangladesh’s diplomatic landscape.

www.thedailystar.net

The geopolitics of truth: Is Bangladesh ready for AI diplomacy?

 

[Saif]

Why self-replicating AI is worrying experts

Anthropic warned that small AI models could self-replicate across IoT devices by late 2026, forming autonomous botnets.

www.thedailystar.net

Why self-replicating AI is worrying experts

Tech & Startup Desk

Image for illustrative purpose. Image: Canva stock

Anthropic has recently warned that AI models could be months away from copying themselves across the internet, and that such a system would be very hard to stop. The company says a rogue AI could build a botnet (a network of hijacked devices), spread quickly, fight attempts to remove it, and even break into data centres to boost its own growth.

The main danger, Anthropic says, is that there would be nothing to switch off. A self-replicating AI that spreads across many devices would have no central point that could be shut down, the company told Reuters. Zhengxiong Li, an assistant professor of computer science and engineering at the University of Colorado Denver, shares that concern. He told Reuters that an AI acting like a computer worm, improvising ways to take over devices, could leave no single place to stop it.

Experts have long argued that AI models are too large to move around easily and cannot access enough computing power to work alone. Anthropic's experiments challenge that view, Reuters reports. The company said models with 30 billion parameters or fewer can already carry out many of the steps needed to copy themselves, although they struggled to complete the whole process reliably. Such models could gather computing power by hijacking cheap connected devices, and they managed to spread across a simplified test network, the company said.

The Guardian reports that the findings came from Anthropic's "frontier red team", which stress-tests the company's AI systems. Its researchers found that self-replication would probably only work with smaller models, and that homes and small businesses would likely be the first targets. The devices listed as at risk all contain small built-in AI chips, including smart ovens, smart TVs, robotic lawnmowers, security cameras, and video-conferencing units.

The researchers admitted it is not clear what form an attack might take. It could be a slow-moving system like a "digital slime mould", one that scams people out of computing credits, or a powerful cyber tool that rapidly breaks into large sites such as data centres. The team said it expects a future "awash with agents running on all types of hardware", including some that are not under human control.

Not everyone is convinced the threat is close. Ciaran Martin, a former head of Britain's National Cyber Security Centre, told Reuters the post read like an interesting technical paper with a hint of "vendor exaggeration". He said that running a small model on cheap TVs does not amount to a security crisis.

Jessica Ji, a senior research analyst at Georgetown's Center for Security and Emerging Technology, told Reuters the post is best seen as a hypothetical rather than a prediction. She said it made sense to consider the risk given recent revelations about rogue AI activity, but added that the likelihood is unknown.

The warning comes as concerns about AI safety grow. The Guardian reports that AI firms, including Anthropic and OpenAI, have said in recent months that their agents can act on their own and hack other companies and government bodies.

Anthropic chief executive Dario Amodei and OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman are among those calling for a slowdown and stronger guardrails, though, notably, both companies are still building and releasing new models.​

 

[Saif]

AI boom is making computers way more expensive

Memory costs spurred by AI giant orders have pushed entry-level laptop models to Tk 65,000-70,000, with relief unlikely before 2027

www.thedailystar.net

AI boom is making computers way more expensive

Mahmudul Hasan

Arifuzzaman Biplob has spent the past two decades selling computers across a range of price points to businesses, individuals and students.

His company, Ryans Computers Limited, builds desktop computers and sells laptops from global brands such as HP, Dell, Acer and Asus. Building desktops requires solid-state drives (SSDs), which store data, and random-access memory (RAM), which temporarily holds data while other chips crunch numbers and display graphics.

Over the past year, Ryans Computers, one of the largest computer retail chains in Bangladesh, has faced a massive rise in RAM and SSD prices. Laptop import costs have also climbed, pushing the price of an entry-level model to Tk 65,000-Tk 70,000 from Tk 48,000 a year ago.

“Standard laptop prices have increased by 35 to 49 percent,” said Arifuzzaman.

A mid-range laptop that previously cost Tk 65,000-Tk 70,000 now sells for around Tk 80,000-Tk 85,000. Higher-end models that once cost Tk 80,000-Tk 90,000 can now fetch Tk 110,000-Tk 125,000 or more, depending on their specifications, he said.

The surge is being driven by the global race to develop artificial intelligence (AI). OpenAI, Meta, Google and other technology giants are ordering increasing quantities of memory chips for their data centres, tightening supplies for personal computers and pushing up prices.

“The situation is worse than during the Covid-19 pandemic, when manufacturing units were largely shut,” said Arifuzzaman. “There is no possibility that computer prices would cool off anytime soon in Bangladesh as prices are ticking up across the globe.”

He said memory chips, SSDs and processors are among the main components driving up computer prices. Graphics cards have also become more expensive.

As AI companies place large orders for high-performance memory and other chips to build their computing infrastructure, manufacturers are giving priority to these more lucrative products, according to Mohammad Zahirul Islam, president of Bangladesh Computer Samity (BCS), the country’s leading ICT trade and business organisation.

Zahirul said a small number of major semiconductor manufacturers supply much of the global market, while large technology companies are securing components for their AI infrastructure.

He said as manufacturers redirect production towards these customers, supplies for consumer devices are tightening, raising procurement costs for computer makers and retailers.

Global market intelligence and consulting firm TrendForce forecast in a September report that contract prices for conventional dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) would rise by 10-15 percent in the October-December quarter of 2026 compared with July-September.

The price of NAND flash, the technology used in SSDs, was forecast to increase by 15-20 percent over the same period.

The rising costs are already affecting computer sales in Bangladesh.

BCS President Zahirul said laptop and desktop sales volumes have fallen by around 20-25 percent over the past year, although the total value of sales has increased.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, movement restrictions, working from home and online classes triggered a sudden surge in demand for computers. The subsequent wave of pent-up purchases added to price pressures. The depreciation of the taka then dealt another blow to the IT business, followed by the latest disruption from the AI boom.

Industry insiders estimate that monthly laptop and desktop sales now stand at around just 20,000 units.

Global forecasts point to similar pressures. International Data Corporation (IDC), a technology research firm, forecast in June that worldwide PC shipments would fall by 11.3 percent in 2026, while average selling prices would rise by 18.3 percent.

IDC said the memory shortage is likely to persist until the end of 2027, with no meaningful relief expected before then.

HIGHER PRICES PUT COMPUTERS OUT OF REACH

Al Amin Mollah, a student at Independent University, Bangladesh, bought his laptop for Tk 60,000 three years ago. He now works part-time at an office in Uttara and recently decided to buy another laptop for his job, with his employer covering the cost.

A week ago, he visited Multiplan Centre, a computer market in Dhaka, to look for a laptop. But he was shocked by the prices. Retailers quoted Tk 90,000 for the same model he had bought three years earlier.

“It has become too expensive for me and exceeded the budget my office had. I returned home without buying it,” said Al Amin.

For businesses, rising computer prices mean higher cost for setting up offices, expanding operations and replacing ageing equipment.

Steel manufacturer Rahim Group, for example, had planned to buy a large quantity of computers and other IT equipment for a new office. But the conglomerate put the plan on hold after finding that IT costs had risen alongside borrowing costs.

“Due to the higher prices, we had to put our expansion plans on hold for now,” said Asaduzzaman Shawon, head of IT at the group.

Students are also feeling the impact, particularly those who need computers for university assignments, online learning, programming, research and professional training.

At BCS Computer City in IDB Bhaban, one of Bangladesh’s largest computer retail hubs, The Daily Star spoke to two customers on Tuesday. Both said laptop prices have become prohibitively high, making it difficult to find devices with the specifications they need within their budgets.

“It is very difficult to find a laptop with the configuration I need within my budget,” said Rayhan Ahmed, a Dhaka resident.

Bangladesh Computer Samity said import duties of 15-20 percent had previously applied to computer and laptop components. The government withdrew those duties entirely in the national budget for fiscal year 2026-27.

Without the tax cuts, prices would have been even higher.

Computer Samity President Zahirul said the government has done its part by cutting duties, but global supply constraints are likely to keep computer prices high at least until 2027.​

 

[Saif]

https://www.newagebd.net/post/telecom/318433/ai-threatens-2pc-labour-demand-in-bangladesh

AI threatens 2pc labour demand in Bangladesh

Jahidul Islam . Dhaka

18 October, 2026, 03:15

Representational image. | AFP file photo.

Artificial intelligence is likely to negatively impact the country’s aggregate labour demand by 2 per cent as its working-age population grows, according to an International Monetary Fund analysis.

The IMF’s October 2026 Regional Economic Outlook for Asia and the Pacific projects a 12–13 per cent increase in the population aged 15–64 between 2025 and 2035 in Bangladesh, increasing the need for productive employment.

The AI estimate applies regional occupational effects to Bangladesh’s employment structure and does not represent recorded job losses or a forecast for that decade, the report explains.

The estimated impact on Bangladesh is smaller than on Singapore, Japan and several Southeast Asian economies, but greater than on India and Sri Lanka.

The report indicates negative impacts of approximately 5 per cent on Singapore, 4.2 per cent on Japan and 3.7 per cent on Australia.

The estimates are around 3 per cent for Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines, compared with roughly 1.5 per cent for India and less than 1 per cent for Sri Lanka.

The IMF analysed 40 million online job advertisements across 19 Asian economies through April 2026, comparing occupations with greater and lower exposure to AI before and after ChatGPT launch in November 2022.

The report levels that employer demand in more exposed occupations fell by nearly 10 per cent relative to less-exposed occupations, with coding identified as a highly exposed activity and managing supplier relationships as less exposed.

The decline is a regional finding rather than a separate estimate for programmers in Bangladesh.

The analysis compared occupations within the same economy, industry and month, accounting for remote work opportunities to distinguish AI’s effects from other recruitment changes.

Alongside weaker recruitment, the IMF found growing demand for workers able to use AI, with about 6 per cent of Asian firms requesting AI skills in job advertisements.

Emerging AI skills appeared in approximately 13 per cent of software developer advertisements during November 2025–April 2026, compared with roughly 2 per cent for supply managers.

Employers increasingly seek capabilities in prompt engineering, retrieval-augmented generation, which connects AI responses to relevant information sources, and building AI agents, according to IMF.

Recruitment demand is growing faster at AI-adopting firms, including in more-exposed occupations, helping explain why the relative decline has stabilised despite improvements in AI capabilities.

Nevertheless, reduced recruitment in more-exposed occupations has so far outweighed emerging opportunities.

The report warns that economies with growing working age populations, like Bangladesh need quality jobs and education systems that equip young people with relevant skills.

Workers in agriculture may currently face less exposure, but moving into more productive manufacturing and services could expose them to greater technological disruption, the report notes.​

 

[Saif]

From industrial revolution to artificial intelligence

The history of technology is fundamentally a history of human adaptation. From the wheel, the printing press, the steam engine, and electricity to the telephone, the computer, and the internet -- every major technological transition has done more than merely simplify human life, it has transformed

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

UNDERSTANDING TECHNOLOGY BEYOND FEAR
From industrial revolution to artificial intelligence
How humanity adapts

A message reading "AI artificial intelligence", a keyboard, and robot hands are seen in this illustration taken on January 27, 2025. — Reuters illustration/File

The history of technology is fundamentally a history of human adaptation. From the wheel, the printing press, the steam engine, and electricity to the telephone, the computer, and the internet -- every major technological transition has done more than merely simplify human life, it has transformed how we work, our economies, our social dynamics, and our vision of the future. Each epoch was marked by fear, uncertainty, and resistance. Yet, ultimately, humanity successfully adapted and integrated each innovation into daily existence.

Today, we stand at a similar threshold with Artificial Intelligence (AI). The critical question is: will AI seamlessly integrate into human lives like previous innovations, or is its speed and capability so unprecedented that traditional paradigms of adaptation will prove insufficient?

To address this question, we must first abandon the simplistic binary of viewing technology as inherently good or bad.

Technology is not inherently dangerous -- application determines value. What a technology is capable of doing and how humans choose to deploy it are two distinct matters. As technological capability expands, its potential applications broaden proportionally. The exact same technological foundation can be harnessed for human welfare or deployed for catastrophic destruction.

Nuclear technology offers the most compelling illustration of this duality. Nuclear energy contributes significantly to electricity generation, medical advancements, scientific research, and industrial applications. In 2024, nuclear power generated approximately 9.0 per cent of global electricity [1]. Simultaneously, nuclear technology led to weapons capable of threatening the very existence of human civilisation.

Thus, technology inherently contains dual possibilities-unprecedented welfare and devastating disruption. Which trajectory materialises depends overwhelmingly on human decisions, institutional capacity, legal frameworks, ethics, and political structures.

For this reason, asking whether AI is "good or bad" is an unproductive exercise. Instead, the discourse must centre on how AI is deployed, who controls it, and what governance mechanisms oversee its application.

The Industrial Revolution was once feared. Today, we view the Industrial Revolution as the bedrock of modern economics and industrial society. However, during the 18th and 19th centuries, the rapid expansion of machinery caused profound social anxiety. The fear that machines would strip away human livelihoods was entirely rational. As production paradigms shifted, traditional skills and occupations became obsolete, even as entirely new forms of employment emerged.

This reveals a critical principle: technology rarely eliminates tasks in a vacuum to leave permanent displacement. Rather, it transforms the fundamental nature of work. Certain specific jobs disappear, others are redefined, and entirely novel professions are created.

A similar trajectory is evident with AI. Research by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) indicates that the primary impact of Generative AI is more likely to augment and alter specific job tasks rather than cause complete job destruction [2]. A 2025 ILO analysis highlighted that while nearly one in four workers globally belongs to an occupation exposed to Generative AI, the majority of jobs are far more likely to undergo transformation rather than total extinction [3].

Therefore, claims that "AI will eliminate all jobs" are heavily exaggerated, just as assertions that "AI will leave employment completely unchanged" are unrealistic.

Social Anxiety is Natural and Necessary: Public anxiety surrounding emerging technologies should not be dismissed as irrational. When livelihoods, income security, social status, or hard-earned skills are threatened by technological shifts, concern is a natural response.

Similar apprehensions arose with the introduction of personal computers. The expansion of the internet disrupted established business models. Smartphones fundamentally restructured communication, journalism, entertainment, and commerce.

Social resistance to technological disruption is not an anomaly, it functions as a social-feedback mechanism. Society scrutinises new technology, seeks to define its boundaries, identifies potential vulnerabilities, and formulates regulatory standards to manage integration safely.

This constructive- feedback loop is already underway for AI.

Adaptation Extends Beyond the Individual: Adapting to technology involves far more than individuals learning new software. Genuine adaptation unfolds across multiple systemic levels:

1. Individuals acquire new skills and technical competencies.

2. Organisations re-engineer workflow processes and operational models.

3. Educational systems shift focus toward modern, future-relevant skills.

4. Legal and regulatory frameworks evolve to mitigate emerging technological risks.

5. Societal ethics adapt to build a consensus on acceptable versus unacceptable practices.

All five dimensions are essential for AI integration. Telling individuals simply to "learn AI" will not resolve systemic challenges. Reskilling and upskilling programmes are mandatory -- organisations must re-evaluate human-in-the-loop decision-making and education systems must move away from rote memorisation toward problem-solving, critical analysis, creativity, and comprehensive AI literacy.

AI Differs from Previous Technological Revolutions: However, a crucial distinction must be recognised.

While AI can be compared to the Industrial Revolution, the two experiences are structurally distinct. Industrial machinery primarily amplified human physical power. Computers expanded computational speed and information-processing capacity. Modern AI, by contrast, penetrates cognitive domains-engaging in language comprehension, visual processing, software coding, complex analysis, and decision support.

In short, AI is entering cognitive-work domains where previous technological tools had limited reach.

Another defining factor is speed. AI capabilities can proliferate across global societies far faster than previous physical technologies. This creates a critical gap between the velocity of technological advancement and the pace of human institutional adaptation.

This dynamic gap constitutes the central challenge.

Risk Does Not Equal Inevitable Catastrophe: Discussions around AI often fragment into two extreme perspectives: one predicting guaranteed existential doom for humanity, and another dismissing all concerns as baseless paranoia.

Both positions are fundamentally flawed.

The reality lies in the middle. AI presents tangible and pressing risks-misinformation, algorithmic bias, privacy violations, cybersecurity threats, automated decision errors, workforce disruption, and over-reliance on automated systems.

Consequently, AI governance is no longer solely the domain of technologists. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) AI Risk Management Framework emphasises four continuous functions: Govern, Map, Measure, and Manage [4]. AI risk management is not a one-time setup; it requires continuous lifecycle monitoring, evaluation, and mitigation.

This reflects a fundamental paradigm shift: we are not merely attempting to build safe code, but establishing social -and institutional-governance frameworks that ensure responsible AI deployment.

How Humanity Will Partner with AI:

The most realistic outcome is that humans will utilise AI while simultaneously transforming themselves.

A physician might leverage AI to analyse complex medical diagnostics, an engineer might use AI for advanced simulation and design, an educator might employ AI to personalise learning pathways, a journalist might rely on AI for deep research and data analysis, and a software developer might utilise AI for code generation and debugging.

The paradigm need not be "Human versus Machine." The real paradigm is "Human plus Machine."

ILO research consistently reinforces that Generative AI's primary trajectory will be augmentation rather than direct substitution.

Naturally, benefits will not be distributed equally. Certain sectors will face acute pressure, specific skills will depreciate, and demand for new capabilities will surge. Ensuring a just transition alongside technological acceleration is therefore imperative.

The Ultimate Determinant: Human Institutions: Ultimately, the future of AI will not be determined solely by technological power, but by how rapidly and intelligently human institutions adapt.

If educational frameworks remain outdated, workforce-development infrastructure remains constrained, and regulatory policies lag years behind innovation, AI will generate severe socioeconomic friction.

Conversely, if individuals proactively upskill, organisations establish collaborative human-machine workflows, governments implement agile regulation, and AI developers prioritise risk management as a core system component, AI can serve as a catalyst for unprecedented productivity and human progress.

This aligns directly with the philosophy of the NIST AI Risk Management Framework: maximising potential benefits while systematically mitigating harmful impacts.

From Fear to Preparedness: The history of technology provides a clear lesson: humanity initially fears new technologies, tests their limits, discovers their boundaries, establishes governing norms, and eventually integrates them into daily life.

AI will follow a similar arc, though with far greater responsibility resting on our shoulders.

Anxiety regarding AI is natural and necessary. Concern drives caution, and caution yields robust policy and security frameworks. However, if anxiety degrades into anti-technology panic, humanity will forgo extraordinary benefits. Conversely, if blind techno-optimism ignores real risks, catastrophe becomes possible.

The most pragmatic stance toward AI is neither panic nor blind acceptance-it is proactive adaptation and responsible deployment.

Technological progress will move forward-halting it is unfeasible. The defining factor is how intelligently society adapts to guide that progress.

During the Industrial Revolution, people feared machines. At the advent of computing, workers feared total joblessness. With the internet, traditional commerce faced existential uncertainty. In every instance, society evolved.

With AI, the central narrative will not be machines replacing human relevances, but humanity redefining its place in an AI-augmented world.

The future of technology does not belong solely to machines. Ultimately, it remains firmly in human hands.

The writer is former managing director of BTCL​

 

[Saif]

Websites go dark worldwide as AI exposes critical security flaws

PHP sits underneath popular web design platforms, so the weaknesses potentially affect a vast range of websites, from online stores and news outlets to government services

www.thedailystar.net

Websites go dark worldwide as AI exposes critical security flaws

AFP, Washington

Representational image: AFP

Government agencies and companies around the world shut down websites Wednesday after two critical flaws came to light involving PHP, a programming language that is the basis for a large share of the internet.

PHP sits underneath popular web design platforms, so the weaknesses potentially affect a vast range of websites, from online stores and news outlets to government services.

Wiz, one of the security firms that found the issues, estimated that PHP runs about 70 percent of the world's websites and said the flaws rank "among the most severe vulnerabilities discovered in PHP, and arguably in software history."

The US National Security Agency told organizations to patch immediately or pull vulnerable systems offline.

The flaws "often provide a direct path to the server's file system or database," the NSA said in a statement on X.

Attackers could use them to take over web servers without needing a password.

Volker Dusch, a security engineer at the PHP Foundation, told the Wall Street Journal it was the most serious problem PHP had faced in more than a decade, comparing it to Heartbleed, a 2014 flaw that set off a worldwide rush to patch.

The discovery came amid a surge in software security disclosures driven by increasingly powerful AI models, with the number of vulnerabilities found in 2026 on track to roughly double last year's record total.

PHP volunteers released a fix on Wednesday.

"If you run PHP, it is imperative that you update now," the PHP Foundation, which funds developers working on the language, said in a blog post.

Security firm Calif found the flaws in August using OpenAI's GPT-5.6 Sol model, as part of an OpenAI-funded audit of PHP's code.

Google-owned Wiz said it found them independently weeks later with help from AI models including Google's Gemini 4 Argon and GPT-5.6 Sol.

OpenAI said on X that it considered the bug "one of the most impactful vulnerabilities in recent memory," adding that it "marks a new phase, where AI can find security bugs with internet-scale impact."

'Often and fast'

Ethan Mollick, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School who studies AI, said that companies he talks to are struggling to keep up with the pace of patches needed to shield from AI-driven cyberattacks.

"Now consumers are going to have the same experience of getting everything updated often and fast," he wrote on X.

The flaws had been reported privately to PHP's developers and kept confidential while a fix was prepared.

Details leaked online Tuesday, a day before the planned release of the fix, prompting the rush to take sites offline.

In France, local government websites, including one for Paris police, have been inaccessible since Wednesday afternoon at the request of the French National Cybersecurity Agency, the interior ministry said.

In the Netherlands, the national digital identity service DigiD, the website of the House of Representatives and the site of the national cybersecurity center went offline as a precaution, according to Dutch public broadcaster NOS.

Belgium’s foreign ministry temporarily took its websites offline as a precaution, it said on X, although the Centre for Cybersecurity Belgium had recorded no attacks on Belgian sites.

In Australia, the Australian Signals Directorate said its own cyber.gov.au site was among government websites affected by the flaws, according to public broadcaster ABC.​