How the World Uses AI — and How Pakistan Can Benefit

Artificial intelligence often reaches Pakistan through dramatic headlines: a new chatbot, a robot, a billion-dollar investment or a warning that machines will take people’s jobs. Away from the headlines, its most useful applications are usually less dramatic. AI is already helping doctors examine medical images, banks detect unusual transactions, factories anticipate equipment problems and public offices search large collections of documents.

Pakistan does not need to copy every global AI trend. It needs to decide where the technology can solve a real local problem—and where an ordinary database, a trained employee or a simpler digital system would do the job better. That distinction matters in a country where unreliable electricity, uneven internet access, incomplete records and a shortage of specialised skills can undermine even a well-funded technology project.

This article looks at practical examples from around the world, assesses Pakistan’s current position, and identifies areas where careful use of AI could improve productivity and public services without handing important decisions to an unaccountable system.

AI is already doing ordinary but valuable work

Healthcare: assisting specialists, not replacing them

Healthcare shows both the promise and the limits of AI. Insilico Medicine used AI in the discovery and design of rentosertib, an experimental treatment for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. The medicine received US Food and Drug Administration Orphan Drug Designation in 2023 and entered a Phase III clinical trial in July 2026. It remains an investigational medicine, not an approved cure, but its progress demonstrates that AI can contribute to the long and expensive process of finding potential treatments.

AI-assisted screening is another practical use. India’s health-technology assessment system has examined the use of software to interpret chest X-rays in tuberculosis screening. The attraction is easy to understand: a programme that helps trained staff review more images could be valuable where specialists are limited. Yet an AI flag is not a final diagnosis. Suspected tuberculosis still requires confirmatory testing and medical review.

This is a useful model for Pakistan. Instead of asking whether AI can replace a doctor, the better question is whether a validated AI tool can help a doctor or technician notice an urgent case sooner, reduce routine workload or extend screening to an underserved district.

Agriculture: useful advice must reach the farmer

Satellite images, weather records and crop data can reveal changes that are difficult to see from the ground. AI systems can help analyse that information to estimate crop conditions, identify stressed areas and support planning for water, disease and rainfall. Phone-based tools can also examine a photograph of a damaged leaf and suggest possible causes.

For a farmer in Sindh or Punjab, though, an impressive model is of little value if its advice is late, difficult to understand or based on crops and conditions from another country. A genuinely useful Pakistani service would combine verified local weather data, input from agriculture experts and guidance in Urdu, Sindhi and other regional languages. It should tell the farmer what to check next rather than pretend that one photograph can provide a guaranteed diagnosis.

Factories and banks: finding unusual patterns early

In manufacturing, sensors can record temperature, vibration, pressure and energy use. Software then looks for patterns associated with abnormal operation. If a machine begins behaving differently, a maintenance team may inspect it before a breakdown stops production. The value comes from earlier attention—not from removing engineers from the process.

Banks use a similar idea for fraud detection. An automated system can compare a transaction with earlier behaviour and flag an unusual payment for investigation. This can protect customers, but it can also inconvenience them when a legitimate transaction is blocked. Good systems therefore need regular testing, secure data, an understandable complaints process and staff who can review a disputed case.

Public offices: start with the paperwork

Governments in Singapore, the United Kingdom and Australia have tested AI tools for tasks such as document search, summarisation and drafting. These are sensible starting points because the output can be checked before it affects a citizen.

Consider a Pakistani office with thousands of digitised letters, notifications and previous decisions. An approved internal tool could help an officer locate relevant records or prepare a first draft. The officer would still confirm the facts, apply the current rules and sign the final document. That is a more realistic use of AI than allowing a public chatbot to decide eligibility, impose a penalty or assess a legal right.

Adoption is growing, but autonomy is still limited
Stanford’s 2026 AI Index reported that 88% of surveyed organisations used AI in at least one business function during 2025, while 70% reported generative-AI use in at least one function. Deployment of autonomous AI agents remained in the single digits across most business functions. In simple terms, organisations are increasingly using AI as an assistant, but most are still cautious about giving it independent responsibility.

Where Pakistan stands in 2026

Pakistan is not starting from zero. The Federal Cabinet approved the National Artificial Intelligence Policy 2025, setting out a six-pillar framework covering innovation, awareness and readiness, secure development, sectoral transformation, infrastructure and international cooperation. In February 2026, the Islamabad AI Declaration also placed emphasis on public value, sovereign data, accountable human oversight and measurable results.

The important word is implementation. A policy announces direction; it does not build infrastructure, train staff or produce results by itself. By August 2026, the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication had advertised procurement connected with the National AI Advancement Initiative, including an August request for proposals to establish National AI Hubs across Pakistan. That is evidence of movement, but procurement should not be described as a completed nationwide network.

Skills initiatives are also expanding. The ACT AI initiative, launched through an April 2026 memorandum of understanding, aims to train up to 6,000 students per cycle across approximately 100 universities. Public training programmes have listed additional AI-related courses, while Ignite continues to support incubation and technology-sector development. Readers interested in building practical skills can also explore Sindh City Portal’s courses section. The real test will come later: how many learners complete meaningful projects, secure employment or use the training to build a viable service?

Digital exports show an opportunity—not automatic AI success

The State Bank of Pakistan’s Annual Report 2024–25 recorded freelance computer and information-service exports rising from US$408.9 million to US$779.2 million, an increase of 90.6%. ICT-service exports reached US$3.812 billion, up 18.3% over the year.

These figures show that international demand for Pakistani digital work is real. They do not prove that recently announced AI programmes caused the increase; exports are influenced by global demand, exchange rates, payment channels, skills and business conditions. The practical opportunity is to help freelancers and companies move beyond low-priced repetitive tasks into software development, data analysis, cybersecurity, responsible automation and AI-assisted business solutions. Newcomers should also understand the difference between genuine work and misleading schemes; our guide, Is Online Work a Scam?, explains the warning signs.

Research capacity is beginning to connect with local needs

In March 2026, LUMS announced a multi-year Gates Foundation grant to establish what it described as Pakistan’s first nationally coordinated AI Hub. Its initial focus is maternal, newborn and child health, with Aga Khan University contributing clinical and technical expertise. The Ministry of National Health Services later announced a partnership with the hub.

This focus makes sense. Pakistan will gain more from an AI system designed around its own languages, health records and service gaps than from importing a generic product and hoping it fits. NUST’s Machine Intelligence Group also lists completed work on AI-based traffic monitoring, showing that local teams can develop applied prototypes. A prototype, however, is only the beginning; city-wide deployment requires reliable cameras, accurate databases, trained operators and public procedures.

Traffic enforcement in Sindh: accuracy matters as much as automation

Camera-assisted enforcement can record possible speeding, red-light or helmet violations more consistently than occasional roadside checking. But the system is only as dependable as the information behind it. An outdated vehicle record, unreadable number plate or incorrect match can send a notice to the wrong person.

Clear public instructions, accurate ownership records, protection of personal data and a practical appeal process are therefore part of the technology—not optional extras. Readers should verify current traffic rules, fine schedules and procedures through the relevant authority because these details can change.

The privacy problem should be addressed before a breach

Public AI tools make drafting and summarising easy, which creates a temptation to paste official material into them. Confidential case details, identity documents, passwords, unpublished decisions and protected departmental records should never be entered into an unapproved external service. Once sensitive information leaves an organisation’s controlled system, recovering control over its storage and use may be difficult.

A blanket ban is unlikely to stop all informal use. A more workable response is to define what staff may and may not do, provide approved alternatives, classify sensitive data, train employees and require review of AI-assisted work. Internal systems should also maintain access controls, logs and an incident-reporting process.

Could AI help with audits and official correspondence?

Yes—provided the records are digitised, structured and lawfully accessible. An audit tool could flag duplicate payments, missing documents or unusual changes across a larger number of transactions than a small manual sample. A correspondence tool could locate earlier letters, classify incoming requests or prepare a draft reply.

In both cases, a flag is not proof and a draft is not a decision. An authorised officer must examine the original record, understand the context and apply the current rules. This separation between assistance and authority is especially important when public money, penalties, employment or legal rights are involved.

What Pakistan should prioritise

1. Reliable foundations: electricity, connectivity, secure computing and usable digital records beyond the largest cities.
2. Skills that lead somewhere: training measured by practical projects, employment and business outcomes rather than enrolment alone.
3. Pakistani languages: tools that work in Urdu, Sindhi and other regional languages and are tested with local users.
4. Small, measurable pilots: begin with one defined problem, publish the objective and expand only when results justify it.
5. Data protection: clear rules for access, storage, sharing, retention and accountability.
6. Human responsibility: a named, authorised person must remain answerable for decisions affecting citizens.
7. Higher-value digital work: support freelancers, researchers and companies that build dependable solutions instead of merely reselling access to foreign tools.

The practical test
Before adopting an AI system, an organisation should be able to answer four questions: What exact problem will it solve? What information will it use? Who will check its output? And how will a citizen or customer challenge a mistake? If those answers are unclear, the project is not ready to scale.

The opportunity is real, but success will be measured in results

Pakistan now has a national policy, expanding training programmes, growing technology-service exports and universities capable of applied AI research. These are useful foundations. The country’s next challenge is to turn announcements into services that ordinary people can actually use. Readers can find more practical learning material through our Career Guidance & Skills hub and AI Tools section.

Pakistan does not need to automate everything at once. A farmer receiving accurate advice in Sindhi, a doctor reviewing a screening result sooner, an officer finding the right notification in minutes, or an auditor detecting a duplicate payment would each represent meaningful progress. The real measure of success is not how frequently “AI” appears in a press release. It is whether the technology saves time, improves a service, protects public money or creates better-paid work—without weakening privacy, fairness or accountability.

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Sources and further reading

• Stanford HAI — 2026 AI Index: Economy
• Insilico Medicine — Rentosertib Phase III announcement
• Ministry of IT and Telecommunication — Islamabad AI Declaration
• Ministry of IT and Telecommunication — Official tender listings
• Press Information Department — ACT AI initiative
• LUMS — National AI Hub announcement

Editorial and independence notice

Sindh City Portal is an independent information platform and is not affiliated with the Government of Pakistan, the Government of Sindh or any government department. This article is for general educational and informational purposes and does not provide legal, medical, financial or official administrative advice.

Policies, programmes, procurement status, traffic rules and official procedures can change. Readers should consult the relevant authority and the latest official documents before relying on time-sensitive information or making a legal or financial decision.