The AI Divide

The AI Divide: How Artificial Intelligence Could Split Society and Wreck Your Credit Score

Alright, let’s talk about our new robot overlords. I’m kidding. Mostly.

Artificial intelligence isn’t just sci-fi movie fodder anymore; its societal impact is already here. AI is deciding which cat videos you see, suggesting embarrassingly personal items on Amazon, and, yes, probably writing half the emails you get. The promise is huge: curing diseases, solving climate change, and finally figuring out why we can never find matching socks. But with great power comes… well, a whole lot of drama about the economic impact of AI.

One of the loudest alarm bells is being rung by a guy who manages more money than most countries. Meet Nicolai Tangen, CEO of Norway’s $1.8 *trillion* sovereign wealth fund. When a man in charge of a nation’s piggy bank the size of a small planet says AI could “split societies,” you put down your phone and listen. Let’s be real, the fallout from this “AI divide” is headed straight for our jobs, our economies, and our credit scores.

Still reading? Wow. You’re officially my favorite.

A Norwegian-style piggy bank the size of a small planet, with a crack down the middle, separating a group of smiling people from a group of worried people.

Who is This Nicolai Guy and Why Should I Care?

First off, Nicolai Tangen is not some tech-hating Luddite yelling at a cloud. In fact, he’s an AI superfan. He coined the term “IBA” — “Intelligence in a Big Ass fund” — and basically told his army of analysts to use AI or get left in the dust. My 7-year-old asked if I was done talking about fiscal policy. I said, “never.”

This is what makes his warning so chilling. He’s not afraid of the tech; he’s afraid of who gets to own it. As the guy managing a fund that owns a piece of basically *every public company on Earth* (1.5% on average), he has a view of the world economy that’s clearer than a bottle of Windex. His job is to spot risks decades away, and he sees a new kind of inequality brewing that could make the old-school wealth gap look like a friendly neighborhood squabble.

This isn’t about who has the fanciest iPhone. It’s about who controls the new building blocks of power itself.

Three towering pillars labeled 'Computing Power,' 'Vast Data,' and 'Elite Talent,' with a small group of people at the top and a large crowd at the bottom looking up.

The Three Pillars of the AI Divide (Not as Fun as a Greek Vacation)

When Tangen frets about “differing access,” he’s talking about a Grand Canyon-sized gap opening between the AI “haves” and “have-nots.” It all comes down to three things that are fueling the AI divide:

1. Massive Computing Power

The kind of generative AI that can write a Shakespearean sonnet about your dog requires a truly bonkers amount of computer power. We’re talking energy-guzzling data centers the size of small towns, filled with specialized chips that cost more than a mansion. This isn’t something you can run on your gaming PC, no matter how many flashy LED lights it has. Only a handful of trillion-dollar tech giants and a few governments can afford to play this game.

2. Unprecedented Amounts of Data

Data is the food that makes AI smart. And who has an all-you-can-eat buffet? You guessed it: the same companies that run our search engines, social media, and online shopping carts. They have a data hoard so vast that startups and smaller countries look like they’re trying to build a fire with two damp twigs. My search history alone could probably train an AI to diagnose anxiety and a weird obsession with 80s movie trivia.

3. Elite, Expensive Talent

The wizards who build these AI systems are the new rock stars, commanding salaries that would make your eyes water. This ultra-elite talent pool is mostly concentrated in a few universities and, you guessed it again, poached by the same mega-corporations who can afford them.

This creates a vicious cycle: the rich get richer, the smart AI gets smarter, and everyone else gets to watch from the sidelines.

A split image showing a futuristic, gleaming city with robots serving people on one side, and a struggling, old-fashioned main street with closed shops on the other.

How the AI Divide Could “Split Societies”

Tangen’s fear is that this concentration of power will crack our society right down the middle, both at home and abroad, raising serious questions about AI ethics.

Economic Polarization

Hot take coming in 3…2…1: The AI divide could kill Main Street for good. Companies with god-tier AI will be so efficient, so predictive, and so personalized that your local mom-and-pop shop won’t stand a chance. How can Brenda’s Boutique compete with an algorithm that knows you need new running shoes before your old ones even wear out?

And then there’s the job market and the future of work. While new jobs will pop up, a whole bunch of professions—from accountants to writers (gulp)—are about to get a serious AI makeover. A Goldman Sachs report says generative AI could automate the equivalent of 300 million full-time jobs. If all the money from that productivity boom goes to the owners of the tech, the wealth gap will become a wealth canyon.

Geopolitical and Social Stratification

Think it stops at money? Cute. On the world stage, AI is the new arms race. Nations that lead in AI get the best military tech, the sharpest intelligence, and the most economic muscle. This could create a world of a few “AI Superpowers” and a lot of countries that are just… along for the ride.

Within our own society, the split could be even starker. Imagine a world where the rich get personalized AI medicine that predicts diseases before they happen, while the rest of us get an underfunded clinic and a “get well soon” card. Or where wealthy kids have AI tutors that adapt to their every learning whim, while public schools struggle to keep the lights on.

That’s a two-tiered society based not just on wealth, but on health, opportunity, and even how long you live.

*cue dramatic pause* 😟

A person looking nervously at their credit score on a phone, while a shadowy robot hand hovers over it. In the background, government-style buildings with 'AI Regulation' signs are being constructed.

The Financial Impact: Why Your Credit Score Should Be Nervous

Okay, okay, enough doom-scrolling. Why should this matter to you, a normal person just trying to figure out what to have for dinner? Because this AI divide is coming straight for your wallet, and AI and credit scoring are already becoming uncomfortably close.

Creditworthiness: If your job is on the “easily automated” list, your income might become less stable. To a lender, that spells R-I-S-K, potentially making it harder to get a mortgage, car loan, or even a new credit card.
Small Business Viability: Can’t afford the latest AI sales-bot for your small business? Good luck competing. This could make it harder for small and medium-sized businesses to grow, get loans, and you know, exist.
Biased Bots: AI bias is a real problem. The AI models banks use to approve loans are trained on existing data. If that data reflects old biases, the AI could learn to be just as biased, unfairly denying credit to people for all the wrong reasons. Next time your loan gets rejected, you might want to ask if a robot had the final say.

So, Are We Doomed? A Call for Guardrails and AI Regulation

Here’s the good news—or at least, the not-totally-terrible news. Nicolai Tangen isn’t just pointing and screaming. He’s calling for a solution: governments need to wake up and enact AI regulation, and fast.

Now, before you start having nightmares about government bureaucrats designing our AI, this isn’t about killing innovation. It’s about building guardrails. Think:

Sharing the Toys: Public funding for AI research and open-source models so it’s not just a private club for billionaires.
Playing Fair: Strong rules to prevent monopolies and ensure AI algorithms are transparent and fair, especially when they’re making decisions about our money and our health.
Investing in People (That’s Us!): A massive push for education and retraining to help everyone adapt to the future of work.

AI can be a tool for incredible progress or a wedge that drives us apart. The warning from the man with the $1.8 trillion crystal ball is clear. The choices we make now will define the world our kids inherit.

And yes, this will be on the test.