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A ChatGPT Pro subscription costs 38.6 months of income in low-income countries

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Re: A ChatGPT Pro subscription costs 38.6 months of income in low-income countries

#41

Post by ben_w »

District5524 wrote: post #35
ben_w wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

UK tuition fees £9,535/year - https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/tuition-fees-and-... £9,535/year * 3 year degree / 124 years ~= £231/year ~= 310 USD/year UN estimates GDP/capita of Yemen and Burundi were less than this, that Tajikistan has lower gross average monthly wages. Those are nominal, not PPP. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(nomi... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countr…

That's for international students going to the UK to study CS. There is not much point for anyone to go to the UK to study CS for that amount of money (unless they already live there, but they get their degree for a third or even less of that money). It's normal for international student tuition fees to be inflated by many universities, they try to collect some extra revenue based on a perceived extra prestige, espec…

> That's for international students going to the UK to study CS

Sadly, no, £9k/year is the price for UK students. International students studying in the UK have much higher costs: https://www.uniadmissions.co.uk/international-students/inter...

Re: A ChatGPT Pro subscription costs 38.6 months of income in low-income countries

#42

Post by graemep »

lgsilver wrote: post #12

A CS degree costs something like 124 yrs salary for someone in a low income nation—and it’s a much longer harder road. I’m not AI’s biggest fan, but arguably, this type of tech actually narrows the gap. Even if it’s expensive.

It sounds like you are talking about the cost of doing a CS degree in a developed country. The $736 (number used in article, source World bank) number multiplied by 124 gives you $93k. That is enough to manage a degree at one of the cheaper (but perfectly OK - regulated to ensure minimum standards) universities in the UK such as Chester. It cover one year of fees at Oxford but not leave you much to live on. I am pretty sure there are cheaper options in Europe.

Of course, someone from a low income nation is most likely to go to university in their own country which is a whole lot cheaper (and a lot of low and middle income countries have free or subsidised university education - which is why British hospitals were historically had lots of South Asian doctors, and now Africans). If their own country does not offer the right degree or demand for limited places is very high they can study in another low or middle income country (I know Sri Lankans who have studied in India).

Re: A ChatGPT Pro subscription costs 38.6 months of income in low-income countries

#43

Post by FirmwareBurner »

alightsoul wrote: post #38
sebzim4500 wrote: post #19

>I find this very troubling for two reasons. First, while Claude and OpenAI are new, Google has been around for a long time. It should have thought better about pricing so that the tool is within the reach of the developing world. Why? I don't see a practical argument for why Google would want to offer this service at a massive loss.

Well, this will only increase immigration. Isn't this what the US doesn't want?

Most people who are desperate to immigrate and risking their lives to cross the US border aren't doing it because they can't afford ChatGPT Pro but because of living in extreme poverty or danger.

Re: A ChatGPT Pro subscription costs 38.6 months of income in low-income countries

#44

Post by alightsoul »

varbhat wrote: post #9

> low-income someone has to pay for the servers at the end. are you asking for openai to subsidize ChatGPT Pro for low-income countries? Since OpenAI is for-profit entity focussed on profits, I don't think it might be a wise idea financially for OpenAI to do so.

It might be better for OpenAI, but this disparity only increases immigration. If the US is serious about keeping immigrants out, they should subsidize access to AI.

Re: A ChatGPT Pro subscription costs 38.6 months of income in low-income countries

#45

Post by xvector »

niek_pas wrote: post #31
sebzim4500 wrote: post #19

>I find this very troubling for two reasons. First, while Claude and OpenAI are new, Google has been around for a long time. It should have thought better about pricing so that the tool is within the reach of the developing world. Why? I don't see a practical argument for why Google would want to offer this service at a massive loss.

The author is making a moral argument, not a practical (from Google’s perspective) one.

I feel like this is a huge problem with the progressive movement in the US. Morally sound arguments that rarely make practical or economic sense - and no, "tax the rich" doesn't get us there: https://freakonomics.com/podcast/ten-myths-about-the-u-s-tax...

Re: A ChatGPT Pro subscription costs 38.6 months of income in low-income countries

#46

Post by District5524 »

bradley13 wrote: post #29

People in low-income countries have low incomes. News at 11:00. Seriously, what is the point of this observation? Few if any workers earning low wages have any use for a ChatGPT Pro subscription?

I believe it's more about witnessing a deepening AI-divide between rich and poor countries. Or the maturing of the AI market. But in the end, this will only matter if we see these more expensive tools/subscriptions actually having a market advantage that cannot be mitigated by low income countries. (Certainly no new startup will be able to train new models in low income countries, hire world class AI professionals etc.)

Re: A ChatGPT Pro subscription costs 38.6 months of income in low-income countries

#48

Post by epolanski »

ben_w wrote: post #34
epolanski wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For Yemen, you should look at the cost of a CS degree in Yemen, which is $ 700/year, not in a foreign country.

To the earlier version of your comment: > Why would someone in Yemen have to go to UK to get a CS degree when they have multiple universities offering the same course. Same reason they'd be using an American AI company instead of a cheaper one that e.g. runs on their phone.

That's not an answer.

You are factually wrong, a Yemeni does not need to pay 100+ years of salary to get a CS degree, end of story.

Also, I've been a researcher and have few scientific papers published (you can search for my name on scholar: Enrico Polanski) and I've seen ZERO evidence that a student from Harvard or Imperial to be more knowledgeable than one in unnamed universities from the third world you've never heard about. None.

It's way too personal and student dependent. Plenty of people in ivy league famous colleges study to ace exams and don't remember shit few weeks later. Plenty of people in unnamed universities are genuinely curious.

Your college makes very little difference in how prepared you will be. Single teachers/courses may have an impact, but the location very little.

Re: A ChatGPT Pro subscription costs 38.6 months of income in low-income countries

#49

Post by alightsoul »

yapyap wrote: post #30

… who cares? 1. the companies don’t get any cheaper compute because a user is from a low-income country. 2. this is an AI subscription, it’s purely a luxury product. We do not need this to survive. If you can’t afford it, don’t buy it.

The internet used to be a luxury too. No, the internet doesn't cost 100 dollars a month everywhere in the world for 300 mbps. In developing countries it's as cheap as 20 dollars a month for the same speed.

Re: A ChatGPT Pro subscription costs 38.6 months of income in low-income countries

#50

Post by graemep »

ben_w wrote: post #34
epolanski wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For Yemen, you should look at the cost of a CS degree in Yemen, which is $ 700/year, not in a foreign country.

To the earlier version of your comment: > Why would someone in Yemen have to go to UK to get a CS degree when they have multiple universities offering the same course. Same reason they'd be using an American AI company instead of a cheaper one that e.g. runs on their phone.

The difference in quality is not the same. I have worked with graduates of universities from a middle income country (Sri Lanka) and they are pretty good. Plenty of them get jobs in western countries as developers. What they miss out on is not technical skills so much as international exposure to a more developed economy and culture.
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