The Uneven Rise of AI: From Silicon Valley Illusions to Global Divisions and Human-AI Struggles

During my time in San Francisco, I was surrounded by people deep in the AI world. It felt like everyone—from startup cafes to tech conferences—was buzzing with excitement about AI, assuming the whole world shared that vibe. But when I returned to Asia and traveled around, reality hit differently. Many people are still at the stage where AI is just a hot stock tip for trading, not something woven into daily work or life. This stark regional gap made me question: Who are the real users of tools like ChatGPT Enterprise and OpenRouter? What do they actually do?

According to OpenAI 's "The State of Enterprise AI 2025 Report," ChatGPT Enterprise users are predominantly from North America, with rapid growth in Asia-Pacific regions like Japan and Australia. They come from industries such as tech, finance, professional services, and healthcare. These users are often engineers (73% report faster code delivery), marketers or product teams (85% see improved execution efficiency), and IT professionals (87% solve problems quicker), saving 40-60 minutes a day on tasks like data analysis and content creation. Similarly, OpenRouter, Inc 's "State of AI 2025" report shows users are 47% from North America and 29% from Asia (mainly China and India), focusing on programming (over 50% of token volume) and role-playing, using mid-sized models for reasoning tasks. This distribution isn't random—it's a snapshot of AI's global unevenness.

Yet, AI's penetration is far from uniform. In the US and China, it's booming, but in many regions, people know the name without grasping the details. As Anthropic 's "Anthropic Economic Index September 2025 Report" notes, AI adoption correlates strongly with per capita GDP: high-income countries like Israel (7x global average) and Singapore (4.57x) lead, while emerging economies like India (0.27x) and Nigeria (0.2x) lag behind. This got me thinking about how AI is reshaping industries in such an imbalanced way.

Reading these reports, the uneven development across sectors stands out. OpenAI's data shows tech, internet, healthcare, and manufacturing growing fastest (over 140% year-on-year in markets like Australia and Brazil), while professional services, finance, and tech lead in scale (with the largest token consumption). These fields leverage AI for clear gains, like engineers saving over 10 hours a week. But traditional industries—agriculture, retail, or low-end manufacturing—lack the "AI DNA," making entry barriers high. This vacuum draws massive capital, fueling "AI rollups": Wealthy AI players acquire traditional businesses and overhaul them with AI. OpenRouter reports capital has driven open-source models from near-zero to 30% market share, but this often feels like a "capital frenzy," overlooking workers' adaptation struggles.

This imbalance doesn't stop at industries—it fractures society. On one side, companies push AI for efficiency (75% of users benefit, per OpenAI); on the other, many employees resist, creating clear camps of "AI adopters" vs. "non-adopters." Tech prioritizes speed but neglects emotional health—in high-AI environments, people increasingly need therapy for burnout. It reminds me of past tech leaps: The 1990s internet boom was a breakout from financial crises, much like AI's surge from the 2020-2023 pandemic's economic shock (token consumption up 320x). Today, AI is at a tipping point: Old balances are breaking, new ones aren't yet formed, and social tensions are rising.

But does AI truly advance humanity? Anthropic warns that high productivity could double US growth (1.8% annually), but inequality risks jobs, favoring only "adaptive workers." AI will target lucrative fields first (finance/programming), squeezing human space and sparking a "survival race": As AI gets smarter, humans look outdated. Yet AI can't replace everything—we must wield our wisdom, experience, and courage against big data's brute force. In this contest, the future might birth reverence for "superhumans": Those with extraordinary intellect, strength, and judgment, propelling civilization forward.

AI governance is urgent: Focused on AI agent control and governance, offering explainable, monitorable, controllable frameworks that truly serve human needs. AI will claim its place, no doubt, but we must coexist.

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