India has highest AI skills penetration: UNDP report
In an endorsement of India's growing artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has said the country has taken rapid strides in deploying AI to empower farmers and small businesses.
It highlights how, with over five million software developers, India is poised to see continued growth in AI.
The report also mentioned how AI is being effectively integrated into critical sectors like healthcare and agriculture.
According to the report, human development progress is experiencing an unprecedented slowdown, but Artificial Intelligence (AI) could be used to reignite development.
"The choices we make in the coming years will define the legacy of this technological transition for human development," said Pedro Conceicao, Director of UNDP's Human Development Report Office. "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."
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.
Beyond the alarming rate of deceleration in global development, the report finds widening inequalities between rich and poor countries. As traditional paths to development are squeezed by global pressures, decisive action is needed to move the world away from prolonged stagnation in progress.
While large disparities continue to exist, the Asia-Pacific region showed some of the fastest gains in human development since 1990 to 2023, with both East Asia and the Pacific and South Asia raising their Human Development Index value by more than 50 per cent to 0.775 and 0.672, respectively. The HDI measures the average achievement in three basic dimensions of human development: a long and healthy life, knowledge and a decent standard of living.
Relative to 2022, South Asia saw in 2023 the most rapid increase in the HDI value, increasing by 4.8 per cent. East Asia and the Pacific saw an improvement of 1.2 per cent.
'Amidst this global turmoil, we must urgently explore new ways to drive development,' Steiner said. 'As Artificial Intelligence continues its rapid advance across so many aspects of our lives, we should consider its potential for development. New capabilities are emerging almost daily, and while AI is no panacea, the choices we make hold the potential to reignite human development and open new pathways and possibilities.'
The report contains the results of a new survey that showed people are realistic yet hopeful about the change AI can bring.
Half of the respondents worldwide think that their jobs could be automated. An even larger share -- six in ten -- expect AI to impact their employment positively, creating opportunities in jobs that may not even exist today.
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, which include 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 and modernising education and health systems to meet 21st-century demands.
Democratisation of AI is already underway. Around one in five of the survey respondents report already using AI. And two-thirds of respondents across lower human development countries anticipate using AI in education, health, or work within the next year, the report added.
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