Bangladesh is grappling with the early and alarming consequences of rapid Artificial Intelligence (AI) adoption, with reports indicating that young male school students are already using AI-generated sexualised images to harass female classmates. The warning, published in Bangladesh's Daily Sun, comes as two of the country's major telecom companies have begun offering access to leading AI platforms for as little as Bangladeshi taka (Tk) 71 per month.

The Scale of the Problem

The concern is not merely theoretical. According to the report, the misuse of AI tools to create and distribute deepfake or sexualised imagery targeting female students emerged before telecom providers even made AI platforms widely accessible at low price points. The platforms now being offered include ChatGPT, Claude, DeepSeek, Grok, and Gemini.

Critics argue that if developed nations — with stronger legal frameworks, stricter enforcement, and higher digital literacy rates — are struggling to contain AI-driven harm, Bangladesh faces a far steeper challenge. The country's law enforcement agencies are reportedly already stretched thin, dealing with rising teen gang violence, escalating child kidnappings, and increasing abuse of women and children.

The Literacy Gap at the Heart of the Risk

The report's author, Nurjahan Khan, Editorial Assistant at the Daily Sun, cited the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics' Literacy Assessment Survey 2023, which found that nearly half of Bangladeshi children aged 7–14 cannot read and comprehend a simple story, while roughly 40 per cent of adults remain illiterate.

'Enabling these people to access a powerful tool like AI is nothing short of absurdity,' Khan wrote, adding that generative AI can produce text-based disinformation that is 'indistinguishable from, and more persuasive in swaying people's opinions than, human-generated content.'

Government's Position and the Trillion-Dollar Ambition

The Bangladesh government has publicly endorsed the telecom companies' AI initiatives, stating that 'the role of AI cannot be overlooked as Bangladesh works towards its ambition of building a trillion-dollar economy by 2034.' This framing has drawn criticism from commentators who argue that economic aspiration cannot substitute for a functioning regulatory architecture.

Notably, this is not the first time a developing nation's government has accelerated technology adoption ahead of the legal and social infrastructure needed to manage it — a pattern that critics argue consistently leaves the most vulnerable populations exposed.

Calls for Regulation Before Rollout

Khan argued that corporate profits should not be the primary driver of AI policymaking, and stressed that the government should have established a robust regulatory framework before granting broad public access to such technologies. 'The government must enact strict laws governing AI utilisation and restrict access among specific populations to mitigate potential risks,' she wrote.

She further called for a 'rigorous cost-benefit analysis' before any unrestricted public rollout, urging that policy decisions 'align precisely with our unique economic structure and the cultural dynamics of our citizens.' The commentary also flagged environmental degradation and digital crime as compounding vulnerabilities that make Bangladesh's foundation for a technology-driven economy particularly fragile.

What Comes Next

As AI access expands across South Asia at rapidly falling price points, Bangladesh's experience is being watched as a stress test for how lower-income economies with significant literacy gaps manage the dual-edged nature of the technology. Whether the government moves to introduce binding AI-use regulations — or continues to prioritise adoption over safeguards — will determine whether the country's digital ambitions come at an unacceptable social cost.