Latest news with #PedroConceicao
Korea Herald
01-07-2025
- Business
- Korea Herald
We can 'choose' to make AI help humans, not replace them: UNDP official
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.' shinjh@
Hans India
06-05-2025
- Business
- Hans India
India has highest AI skills penetration: UNDP report
New Delhi: India has the highest self-reported AI skills penetration in the world, which reflects the country's growing potential in the sector, according to a UNDP report released on Tuesday. 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.
