UN deploys AI for development

The United Nations and its agencies are deploying artificial intelligence tools across multiple sectors to advance the Sustainable Development Goals. UNICEF's Accessible Digital Textbooks for All initiative uses AI to convert textbooks into interactive formats for children with disabilities, operating in 17 countries and reaching nearly two million children, with a goal of expanding to 50 countries by 2030. The UN Environment Programme's Methane Alert and Response System uses AI to analyze satellite data from 30 satellites, issuing 7,500 alerts and triggering 42 mitigation actions since 2024, preventing emissions equivalent to 24 million gas-powered cars. The World Health Organization supports developing countries in using computer-aided detection to screen chest X-rays for tuberculosis, improving early diagnosis in low-resource settings. UN agencies also use AI for landmine detection, disaster damage assessment, financial transaction monitoring, radioactive contamination monitoring, and nuclear fusion research. The UN emphasizes equity, human rights, and ethics in AI governance, with Secretary-General António Guterres calling AI 'humanity's greatest opportunity' and 'one of its greatest risks.' In 2025, the UN established a Global Dialogue on AI Governance and an Independent International Scientific Panel on AI, and launched a global network to expand AI capacity in developing countries. UNESCO adopted the first global AI ethics standard in 2021.