The UN Development Programme (UNDP) has issued its annual assessment of human development progress based on the Human Development Index (HDI) – a summary measure of average achievement in health, education, and a decent standard of living. While progress has slowed to a 35-year low, the report highlights opportunities for artificial intelligence (AI) to “reignite development.”
Themed, ‘A Matter of Choice: People and Possibilities in the Age of AI,’ the Human Development Report 2025 reveals stalled progress on the HDI in all regions, along with growing inequalities between rich and poor countries. Excluding the 2020-2021 period of “exceptional crises,” “the meagre rise in global human development projected in this year’s report is the smallest increase since 1990,” according to a UNDP press release.
Recognizing the need for decisive action to break the prolonged stagnation on progress, the report turns to AI and its potential to help “mobiliz[e] people’s imaginations to reshape economies and societies” for new development pathways that can help everyone thrive in a world with AI.
“As Artificial Intelligence continues its rapid advance across so many aspects of our lives, we should consider its potential for development,” said UNDP Administrator Achim Steiner. Pointing to the almost daily emergence of AI’s new capabilities, he underscored that “choices we make hold the potential to reignite human development and open new pathways and possibilities.”
According to the results of a new survey presented in the report, people are “realistic yet hopeful” about the role of AI in driving human development. While half of respondents globally think their jobs could be automated, six in ten expect AI to have a positive impact on their employment, creating new jobs and opportunities.
Only a limited number of respondents (13%) believe AI could result in job losses, while 70% of respondents in low- and medium-HDI countries anticipate AI will increase their productivity, with two-thirds hoping to use AI in education, health, or work within the next year.
The report calls for a human-centered approach to AI – one that has the potential to “reset” development. Acknowledging regional disparities, it identifies three areas for action:
- Building a “complementary” economy for people to collaborate with AI rather than compete against it;
- Driving innovation with intent by embedding human agency across the full AI lifecycle, from design to deployment; and
- Investing in capabilities that count by modernizing education and health systems to align with the demands of the 21st century.
The report was released on 6 May 2025. [Publication: Human Development Report 2025: A Matter of Choice: People and Possibilities in the Age of AI] [Report Overview] [Publication Landing Page] [UN News Story]