The latest UNDP Human Development Index report highlights a concerning slowdown in global development progress in 2024 after a brief post-COVID rebound. Significant factors include a rise in conflicts, stalling life expectancy, and income growth. UNDP chief Achim Steiner emphasizes that cuts in international aid, especially by the U.S. under Trump, could worsen the situation, risking decades of development gains. The report discusses AI as a potential revitalizing force for development, although access disparities could worsen existing inequalities, particularly for poorer countries lacking digital infrastructure.
"The progress in global development slowed in 2024, raising concerns that the gains in recent years may be slipping, according to a new UN report released on Tuesday."
"Achim Steiner warned that this 'unsettling' slowdown can cause human development to 'slip by decades making our world less secure, more divided, and more vulnerable to economic and ecological shocks.'"
"High-income countries such as the United States, the Republic of Korea, Japan and Germany... have well-established digital infrastructures, giving them a major advantage in AI development."
"If we fail to address the injustices and divides that persist today, AI will only entrench them further," Steiner said.
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