UNDP pushes for human-centred AI to reset development

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has released its 2025 Human Development Report (HDR) titled “A matter of choice: People and possibilities in the age of AI.”

This year’s report, which advocates for a human-centred approach to AI, 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 released on 6 May further addresses how AI and digital technologies are reshaping human development pathways, creating both new opportunities and emerging challenges. 

It also highlights the widening inequalities and slowing human development progress globally, calling for urgent, people-centred choices to harness digital transformation for inclusive and sustainable growth. 

According to a UNDP statement released today, a world with AI offers abundant choices, and exercising these choices is both a component of human development and a way to advance it. 

The statement notes that AI can play a transformative role in advancing human welfare. This discussion explores how AI can support education, healthcare, and economic opportunities, ultimately fostering a more equitable society. 

“Amidst this global turmoil, we must urgently explore new ways to drive development. As Artificial Intelligence continues its rapid advance across so many aspects of our lives, we should consider its potential for development”, Achim Steiner, head of the UNDP said.

Steiner stated that new capabilities are emerging almost daily, and while AI is no panacea, the choices peoplemake hold the potential to reignite human development and open new pathways and possibilities.

“The choices we make in the coming years will define the legacy of this technological transition for human development. With the right policies and focus on people, AI can be a crucial bridge to new knowledge, skills and ideas that can empower everyone from farmers to small business owners, said Pedro Conceição, director of UNDP’s human development report office.