UN sounds the alarm for human development but AI can help

Human development progress has slowed to a 35-year low, according to a UN Development Programme report. But the report says that AI could reignite development. In fact, following the crises of 2020-202, progress has not rebounded and the poor rise in global human development projected in this year’s report is the smallest increase since 1990.

The 2025 Human Development Report, ‘A matter of choice: people and possibilities in the age of Artificial Intelligence (AI)’, analyses development progress across a range of indicators known as the Human Development Index (HDI), which encompasses achievements in health and education, along with levels of income. Projections for 2024 reveal stalled progress on the HDI in all regions across the world.

The report also finds widening inequalities between rich and poor countries. For the fourth year in a row inequality between low HDI and very high HDI countries continues to increase. This reverses a long-term trend that has seen a reduction in inequalities between wealthy and poor nations.

The report contains the results of a new survey that showed people are realistic yet hopeful about the change AI can bring. Half of respondents worldwide think that their jobs could be automated. An even larger share – six in 10 – expect AI to impact their employment positively, creating opportunities in jobs that may not even exist today.

Only 13% of survey respondents fear AI could lead to job losses. In contrast, in low- and medium-HDI countries, 70% expect AI to increase their productivity, and two-thirds anticipate using AI in education, health or work within the next year.

The report advocates for a human-centred approach to AI – which has the potential to fundamentally redesign approaches to development. The survey results show that across the world people are ready for this kind of ‘reset’.

The report outlines three critical areas for action:
• Building an economy where people collaborate with AI rather than compete against it.
• Embedding human agency across the full AI lifecycle, from design to deployment.
• Modernising education and health systems to meet 21st-century demands.

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