Rest of World recently spoke with workers across Asia and Africa who are using artificial intelligence (AI) to solve everyday challenges, earn a living, and explore new opportunities. These individuals show how people decide to use AI—what tasks they hand over to machines and which they keep for themselves. Access to affordable, powerful AI tools is enabling individuals to achieve more than ever before. This shift highlights how the economic impact of AI is becoming visible not just in global tech hubs like Silicon Valley and China, but also in the daily lives of people around the world. In Lagos, Nigeria, 24-year-old makeup artist Nureeyah Ogunmuyiwa uses ChatGPT to create a hiring plan, including interview questions and evaluation checklists. She calls ChatGPT her “most reliable business partner,” using it for managing social media, coaching sales, and calculating prices for her beauty products. Ogunmuyiwa does not pay for ChatGPT, saying she has invested her time instead of money. AI contributes about 5% to her business growth, and she remains open to using a paid version if needed. She uses AI for tasks like generating mood boards and setting reminders. In Bengaluru, India, Chinmayee Mishra, owner of Patta Chai, a local tea cafe, uses AI for marketing, design, and internal communication. She subscribes to ChatGPT Plus, Canva Pro, and Adobe Express, spending around 2,000 rupees ($26) monthly on ChatGPT Plus and 500 rupees on Canva Pro. She trusts AI with calculations but not with subjective decisions, saying, “If it’s a calculation based on my data, I trust it. If it’s subjective — market positioning or emotions — that still has to be my intelligence.” She rejects ideas like QR code menus and automated ordering, emphasizing, “Let humans do that.” In Zhengzhou, China, director Wendi Ma uses AI video generation tools like Seedance to create short dramas. He generates AI prompts that specify settings, camera angles, and character emotions. Each second of video costs about 0.8 to 1 yuan (12 to 15 cents). Ma notes, “The transformation may not have reached the biggest productions yet, but it has already changed everyone at the bottom of the industry.” He describes the process as “lottery masters,” generating between four-and-a-half and six hours of footage to find usable clips for a 90-minute series. In Mumbai, India, Trishika Udyawar, a teacher and curriculum planner at Rhythmus Happy Feet, uses AI to create original children’s dance songs. She uses ChatGPT for lyrics and Suno for music generation. The company has created 60 songs in the time it previously took to create 10, with an annual subscription cost of around $90. However, Suno faces lawsuits for allegedly using copyrighted music. Udyawar says, “It all depends on the content of the song. If it’s nice, the lyrics are clean, the concept is great, the music is amazing, and it is appropriate, that’s all that matters.” In northern Taiwan, personal trainer Philip Yeh uses Anthropic’s Claude to build an AI-powered app called LinkOS, which tracks clients’ workouts and suggests focus areas. He pays $20 monthly for the paid version of Claude. Yeh emphasizes that AI helps him manage time but does not replace human judgment in training. He describes AI as enabling him to “build things of my own” and not just sell labor hours.