Exploited Intelligence: AI, Cybercrime, and the Global South’s Digital Struggle

Artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming cybersecurity landscapes across the Global South, creating new opportunities and vulnerabilities. This article examines how AI-driven cyber threats, such as deepfakes, phishing, and adaptive malware, exploit structural inequalities in low-capacity digital environments. Drawing on comparative analysis and regional case studies, it explores the geopolitical, institutional, and ethical dimensions of AI-enabled cybercrime. The study argues that current governance models—dominated by the Global North—fail to account for contextual realities of the South, perpetuating dependency and exclusion. It advocates for a digital Non-Aligned Movement grounded in ethical innovation, regional cooperation, and inclusive governance. Policymakers are urged to prioritize local data sovereignty, capacity building, and international regulatory coordination to ensure that AI security becomes a matter of justice, not merely technology.