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UN Calls For Human-Centred Approach As Artificial Intelligence Rapidly Expands

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Artificial intelligence is rapidly reshaping everyday life, transforming industries, workplaces and communication systems around the world. While the technology promises major benefits, the United Nations is urging governments and companies to adopt a “people-first” approach to ensure AI serves humanity rather than undermining it.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres has repeatedly warned that the growing influence of automated systems should never come at the cost of human oversight.

Speaking before the UN Security Council in 2024, he cautioned that humanity’s future “must never be left to the ‘black box’ of an algorithm,” stressing that humans must remain responsible for decisions made using artificial intelligence.

In response to the rapid spread of AI technologies, the UN system has been working to develop global frameworks for ethical governance. These efforts draw heavily on principles outlined in the Global Digital Compact and other international guidelines designed to ensure the technology supports sustainable development and human rights.

Education Seen As Foundation For AI Future

Education is emerging as a central pillar in the UN’s strategy for adapting societies to the rise of artificial intelligence.

Experts warn that preparing people for an AI-driven world requires more than simply introducing new technologies into classrooms. Instead, students and educators must develop a strong understanding of how AI systems work and how they affect society.

Shafika Isaacs, who leads technology and AI programmes in education at UNESCO, says the global education system faces an urgent challenge in preparing future generations.

“The global education system will need 44 million teachers by 2030,” she said, warning against the idea that technology alone can replace human educators.

Isaacs emphasised that while AI tools can assist with data analysis and information delivery, education remains fundamentally a human experience shaped by social interaction, cultural understanding and mentorship.

AI May Transform Jobs Rather Than Eliminate Them

One of the biggest concerns surrounding artificial intelligence is the potential impact on employment.

A report by the World Economic Forum in 2025 estimated that about 41 percent of employers expected to reduce parts of their workforce because of AI automation.

However, the International Labour Organization suggests the broader picture may be more complex.

According to its research, roughly one in four jobs worldwide could be transformed by AI technologies. While some positions may disappear, new roles that combine human skills with machine capabilities are also likely to emerge.

Machines excel at analysing patterns, processing large volumes of data and performing repetitive tasks. But creativity, ethical judgment, problem-solving and complex interpersonal interactions remain areas where human abilities continue to play a critical role.

As a result, experts believe workers will need to adapt to a future where continuous training and lifelong learning become essential parts of professional life.

Access To AI Must Be Widely Shared

Another major concern for the United Nations is the growing concentration of AI development among a small number of powerful technology companies.

Without broader access to the technology, the UN warns that the benefits of artificial intelligence could deepen global inequalities between countries and communities.

To address this risk, UN strategies call for policies that ensure AI tools and infrastructure are accessible across different regions and economic groups.

These policies include investment in digital education, technology infrastructure and inclusive governance frameworks so that AI innovations are not limited to technologically advanced economies.

Human Rights Must Guide AI Development

The UN has also repeatedly emphasised that human rights protections must form the foundation of AI governance.

In 2021, UNESCO adopted the Recommendation on the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence following extensive consultations with governments, technology experts and civil society organisations.

The document outlines principles designed to ensure that AI systems respect human dignity, equality and freedom. It also calls on governments to regulate technologies that could threaten fundamental rights.

Under the guidelines, tools that promote discrimination, undermine privacy or restrict individual freedoms should be restricted or banned.

Global Cooperation Essential

Because artificial intelligence operates across borders, the United Nations says international cooperation will be crucial in shaping its future.

No single government, company or institution can fully address the opportunities and risks associated with the technology alone.

UN officials are therefore calling for stronger global dialogue on AI governance, ethical standards and regulatory frameworks.

These efforts could include international platforms to coordinate policies, partnerships between governments and the private sector, and large-scale investments in education and workforce training.

As AI continues to evolve at unprecedented speed, the UN argues that global cooperation will be key to ensuring that technological progress benefits all of humanity rather than widening existing divides.

World enters era of ‘global water bankruptcy’

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For decades, scientists, policymakers and the media warned of a “global water crisis,” implying temporary shock – followed by recovery. 

What is now emerging in many regions, however, is a persistent shortage whereby water systems can no longer realistically return to their historical baselines.

“For much of the world, ‘normal’ is gone,” said Kaveh Madani, Director of the UN University Institute for Water, Environment and Health.

 “This is not to kill hope but to encourage action and an honest admission of failure today to protect and enable tomorrow,” he told a press briefing in New York on Tuesday.

Unequal burdens

Mr. Madani emphasised that the findings do not suggest worldwide failure – but there are enough bankrupt or near-bankrupt systems, interconnected through trade, migration and geopolitical dependencies, that the global risk landscape has been fundamentally altered.

The burdens fall disproportionately on smallholder farmers, Indigenous Peoples, low-income urban residents and women and youth, while the benefits of overuse often accrued to more powerful actors.

From crisis to recovery? 

The report introduces water bankruptcy as a condition defined by both insolvency and irreversibility.

Insolvency refers to withdrawing and polluting water beyond renewable inflows and safe depletion limits.

Irreversibility refers to the damage to key parts of water-related natural capital, such as wetlands and lakes, that makes restoration of the system to its initial conditions infeasible.

But all is not lost: comparing water action to finance, Mr. Madani said that bankruptcy is not the end of action. 

“It is the start of a structured recovery plan: you stop the bleeding, protect essential services, restructure unsustainable claims, and invest in rebuilding,” he noted.

Costly tab

The world is rapidly depleting its natural “water savings accounts”, according to the study: more than half the world’s large lakes have declined since the early 1990’s, while around 35 per cent of natural wetlands have been lost since 1970, Mr. Madani said.

The human toll is already significant. Nearly three-quarters of the world’s population live in countries classified as water-insecure or critically water-insecure.

Around four billion people experience severe water scarcity for at least one month each year, while drought impacts cost an estimated $307 billion annually.

“If we continue to manage these failures as temporary ‘crises’ with short-term fixes, we will only deepen the ecological damage and fuel social conflict,” Mr. Madani warned.

Course corrections

The report calls for a transition from crisis response to bankruptcy management, grounded in honesty about the irreversibly of losses, protection of remaining water resources – and policies that match hydrological reality rather than past norms.

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UN’s Guterres declares fossil fuel era fading; presses nations for new climate plans before COP30 summit

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In a special address at UN Headquarters in New York, Mr. Guterres cited surging clean energy investment and plunging solar and wind costs that now outcompete fossil fuels.

“The energy transition is unstoppable, but the transition is not yet fast enough or fair enough,” he said.

The speech, A Moment of Opportunity: Supercharging the Clean Energy Age – a follow‑up to last year’s Moment of Truth – was delivered alongside a new UN technical report drawing on global energy and finance bodies.

“Just follow the money,” Mr. Guterres said, noting that $2 trillion flowed into clean energy last year, $800 billion more than fossil fuels and up almost 70 per cent in a decade.

Key points from the address

  • Point of no return – The world has irreversibly shifted towards renewables, with fossil fuels entering their decline
  • Clean energy surge – $2 trillion invested in clean energy last year, $800 billion more than fossil fuels
  • Cost revolution – Solar now 41 per cent cheaper and offshore wind 53 per cent cheaper than fossil fuel alternatives.
  • Global challenge – Calls on G20 nations to align new national climate plans with the 1.5°C target of the Paris Agreement
  • Energy security – Renewables ensure “real energy sovereignty”
  • Six opportunity areas – Climate plan ambition, modern grids, sustainable demand, just transition, trade reform, and finance for emerging markets.

A shift in possibility

He noted new data from the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) showing solar, once four times costlier, is now 41 per cent cheaper than fossil fuels.

Similarly, offshore wind is 53 per cent cheaper, with more than 90 per cent of new renewables worldwide beating the cheapest new fossil alternative.

“This is not just a shift in power. It is a shift in possibility,” he said.

Renewables nearly match fossil fuels in global installed power capacity, and “almost all the new power capacity built” last year came from renewables, he said, noting that every continent added more clean power than fossil fuels.

Clean energy is unstoppable

Mr. Guterres underscored that a clean energy future “is no longer a promise, it is a fact”. No government, no industry and no special interest can stop it.

“Of course, the fossil fuel lobby will try, and we know the lengths to which they will go. But, I have never been more confident that they will fail because we have passed the point of no return.”

He urged countries to lock ambition into the next round of national climate plans, or NDCs, due within months. Mr. Guterres called on the G20 countries, which are responsible for 80 per cent of emissions, to submit new plans aligned with the 1.5°C limit and present them at a high‑level event in September.

Targets, he added, must “double energy efficiency and triple renewables capacity by 2030” while accelerating “the transition away from fossil fuels”.

Real energy sovereignty

The Secretary-General also highlighted the geopolitical risks of fossil fuel dependence.

“The greatest threat to energy security today is fossil fuels,” he said, citing price shocks after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

“There are no price spikes for sunlight, no embargoes on wind. Renewables mean real energy security, real energy sovereignty and real freedom from fossil-fuel volatility.”

Six opportunity areas

Mr. Guterres mapped six “opportunity areas” to speed the transition: ambitious NDCs, modern grids and storage, meeting soaring demand sustainably, a just transition for workers and communities, trade reforms to broaden clean‑tech supply chains, and mobilising finance to emerging markets.

Financing, however, is the choke point. Africa, home to 60 per cent of the world’s best solar resources, received just 2 per cent of global clean energy investment last year, he said.

Only one in five clean energy dollars over the past decade went to emerging and developing economies outside China. Flows must rise more than five-fold by 2030 to keep the 1.5-degree limit alive and deliver universal access.

Mr. Guterres urged reform of global finance, stronger multilateral development banks and debt relief, including debt‑for‑climate swaps.

“The fossil fuel age is flailing and failing. We are in the dawn of a new energy era,” he said in closing.

“That world is within reach, but it won’t happen on its own. Not fast enough. Not fair enough. It is up to us. This is our moment of opportunity.”

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