Human development slowed – Can artificial intelligence provide solutions, and what about the Arab region?

Human development indicators – for decades – have shown a steady upward curve. United Nations researchers expected that by 2030, the world’s population will enjoy a high level of development. But these hopes have been dissipated in recent years, after a period of exceptional crises such as the Kofid-19s, and progress in all regions of the world stumbles.

The annual human development report issued by the United Nations Development Program shows that the inequality between rich and poor countries has expanded for the fourth year in a row.

Global pressure – such as increasing trade tensions and the exacerbation of the debt crisis that limits the ability of governments to invest in services that support their inhabitants, such as health care and education – narrows the traditional paths of development.

Akhim Steiner, director of the United Nations Development Program, said: “This slowdown refers to a very real threat to global progress. If the slow progress of 2024 becomes ‘new normal’, the 2030 goal may be delayed for decades – which makes our world less safe, more divided and more vulnerable to economic and environmental shocks.”

Arab Region: Digital Ambition and Challenges

The report stated that the Arab countries region shows ambition in the field of digital development and artificial intelligence, especially in the Gulf region, but it faces slowly in the recovery of the human development index, continuous digital gaps, and gender restrictions.

The Middle East has received investments of about $ 6.5 billion in artificial intelligence during the year 2024, making it the third highest region in terms of global investment.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are among the few countries outside the West and China that contribute to widespread artificial intelligence models.

Despite this progress in the region, the report indicates that the recovery in the human development index in the Arab countries is still slow, as a result of the effects of the pandemic, economic fluctuations, and geopolitical turmoil. Development levels in the region are still lower than the expected track before 2019.

The report highlighted the fundamental differences in digital access across the region. While some Arab countries enjoy a semi -comprehensive spread of the Internet, other countries face large gaps in communication, especially in rural and disadvantaged societies.

Arab countries are included in the areas facing losses in the talents of artificial intelligence due to the migration of skilled workers to global technology centers. This contributes to the global imbalance in the experiences and capabilities of artificial intelligence between high, medium and low -income countries.

The report indicates that women in many Arab countries face social norms and the burdens of care that limits their ability to develop information and communications technology skills and participate in opportunities related to artificial intelligence.

Perhaps the robots do not take our jobs!?

Despite the dark indicators, the report expressed a remarkable optimism about the capabilities of artificial intelligence, pointing to the huge speed in which free or low -cost tools were adopted by both companies and individuals.

The United Nations Development Program researchers conducted a survey to evaluate opinions on artificial intelligence and discovered that about 60 percent of respondents expect technology to affect their work and create new opportunities.

70 percent of those living in low and medium levels of development expected that artificial intelligence will increase their productivity, and two -thirds of this category expects the use of artificial intelligence in education, health or work during the next year.

The authors of the report have developed recommendations to take measures to ensure that artificial intelligence is as beneficial as possible for human development, including updating education and health systems to meet the needs of today sufficiently, building an economy that focuses on human cooperation with artificial intelligence (instead of competition), and the position of humans at the heart of each aspect of developing artificial intelligence, from design to publication.

Pedro Koniso, Director of the United Nations Development Program Office on Human Development Report “The options we make in the coming years will determine the legacy of this technological transformation of human development. Through the correct policies and focus on people, artificial intelligence can be an important bridge of knowledge, skills and new ideas that can enable everyone to farmers to small business owners.”

How can we avoid disappointment?

The report’s message is that the effect of artificial intelligence is far from being inevitable: instead of being an independent force, it is a reflection and an enlarged values ​​and inequality in the societies that constitute it.

To avoid what he calls “Disappointment of development”The United Nations Development Program urges to enhance global cooperation on managing artificial intelligence, harmonizing private innovation and general goals, and renewing commitment to human dignity, fairness and sustainability.

Mr. Steiner said in the introduction to the report: “The 2025 Human Development Report is not a report on technology. It is a report on people – and our ability to restore ourselves in the face of deep change.”

Regional disparities

The report highlights different tracks across regions:

• Africa, especially sub -Saharan Africa, is facing great structural challenges in development. Artificial intelligence provides the ability to improve education, health and agriculture, but the large gaps in infrastructure – in electricity, the Internet and computing power – constitute large barriers for just access and use.

• East Asia is a global force in the field of artificial intelligence, as China plays a central role in artificial intelligence research, robots and data ecosystems. However, the report also indicates a lack of investment in the integrity of artificial intelligence, and indicates structural divisions in maintaining talents and organizational preparation throughout the region.

• Europe and Central Asia are witnessing increasing political and demographic aging, as artificial intelligence is often seen as a destroyed power and not complementary in the labor market.

• Latin America and the Caribbean region face inequality, slow educational gains and digital disparities.