We can 'choose' to make AI help humans, not replace them: UNDP official

Korea Herald

a day ago

UNDP's Pedro Conceicao urges Korea to play proactive roles in shaping future of AI
As artificial intelligence advances, questions loom over whether it will replace human labor or unlock new levels of development and well-being. Pedro Conceicao, director of the UNDP Human Development Report Office, believes the answer lies in human hands.
The direction AI takes — whether it augments or replaces human capabilities — is not preordained, Conceicao said in a recent interview with The Korea Herald in Seoul. 'It's not something that is inevitable in the path of technology as such but results from decisions that individuals, firms and governments make on how AI is deployed and how AI evolves.'
Conceicao is the lead author of the Human Development Report 2025, titled "A Matter of Choice: People and Possibilities in the Age of AI," released globally on May 6. The official was in Seoul for the report's Korean launch event in June. Korea, as one of the major donors to UNDP, has sponsored the annual report since 2019.
He said that to advance human development, AI should complement, not replace, human labor. "AI should be employed not to replace people but to find ways in which it augments what people can do."
He cited medical imaging as a key example. 'Some predicted that AI would replace radiologists because of its superior ability to detect patterns,' he said. 'But the exact opposite happened. We now see more demand for radiologists.'
While AI can identify disease in images better than the human eye, radiologists do more than analyze images. They interact with doctors and patients, manage paperwork and follow hospital protocols — tasks AI cannot perform.
This, he explained, demonstrates that AI's superior capabilities in specific tasks do not automatically translate into widespread job replacement. 'But this is not automatic. It depends on the choices we make.'
'That it is a matter of choice whether AI is going to be used to augment human development, to create jobs, to increase productivity, amend standards of living, enhance education, health, it's not inherently in the technology,' he said.
'This is a matter of economic, social and political choice that we need to reclaim. Societies need to reclaim that choice and not to defer to just the technologies or assuming that the technology on its own is going to determine the outcomes."
AI should be for everyone
Conceicao also warned that the spread of AI could deepen inequalities, not between humans and machines, but among people. 'The real divide may be between those who can use AI and those who cannot — whether individuals, firms or governments,' he said.
He pointed to a slowdown in human development progress in recent years, particularly in low-income countries, as reflected in Human Development Index data, due to trade tensions and increasingly capital-intensive economies. Yet expectations for AI remain high, even in those regions.
According to UNDP survey data from late 2024 to January, two-thirds of people in lower-HDI countries expect AI to play a significant role in work, health and education.
Conceicao stressed the importance of governments taking these expectations seriously. 'No country should be left behind,' he said.
'Given the fact that countries are very divided on the regulation of AI, we should make sure that they talk to each other, make sure that this dialogue is informed by science and make sure that the lower-income countries are not left behind and are also part of this dialogue.'
Because AI technologies and firms operate globally, he added, national regulations alone are insufficient. Even if countries regulate AI independently, without international cooperation there will be inevitable gaps and asymmetries, he said.
'It is premature to have a template that is universally adopted because of the differences, but I think it is important to continue to have that dialogue so that different jurisdictions can hopefully come to some convergence on how to deal with AI.'
Korea's role in AI era
Conceicao highlighted South Korea's potential to help shape global AI discussions, especially through its involvement in the Global Digital Compact, adopted at the UN Summit of the Future in September 2024.
'Korea, as a technology and science leader, can both share what it is doing but also learn from the perspectives of others,' he said, adding that Korea could support lower-income countries by sharing expertise and resources.
Domestically, Korea could strive to strike a balance between economic competitiveness and social cohesion by focusing not only on technology and its capabilities, but also by having a broad dialogue across society to understand how AI can help improve productivity in firms, support health care and enhance education, he said.
'Because in Korea and elsewhere, ultimately the impact of AI is not going to be determined by the technology but by the way in which society, firms and the economy use it,' Conceicao said.
'So finding that balance has more to do with how these decisions are made than with the capabilities of the technology.'
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