United Nations recognizes the importance of AI and its global transformative potential

• The United Nations Human Development Report presents the results of one of the largest AI surveys worldwide.
• More than half of the population hopes that AI will help improve their lives.

A Coruña, May 23, 2025 –. The Human Development Report, produced annually by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), focuses this year on artificial intelligence and its potential to help transform economies and societies. It also considers what decisions and measures can be taken to help all countries have the opportunity to thrive in a world with AI.

Regarding the Human Development Index (HDI) itself, the context of general stagnation since the Covid-19 pandemic is highlighted; although Spain has improved its score during this period, rising from an HDI of 0.901 in 2020 to 0.918. Moreover, it is one of the countries with the highest penetration of AI skills, ranking 12th globally, and it is ahead of other nearby countries such as France in terms of attracting AI talent.

The report presents the results of one of the largest public opinion surveys on AI conducted worldwide in the past three years: more than 21,000 people from 21 countries and 36 languages were surveyed. Some relevant data are detailed below:

• Approximately two-thirds of respondents expect to use artificial intelligence in education, health, and work during the next year.
• More than half of the respondents hope that AI will help improve their lives.
• Men use AI more than women. People with a higher level of education use it more than those with less education. Age also plays a role: older people feel that AI could reduce their sense of autonomy.

In relation to the labor market, the advancement of AI generates fears of massive job losses, according to the report. Nevertheless, the scenario is optimistic, according to the survey data:

• Half of the respondents worldwide believe that their jobs could be automated.
• Six out of ten expect AI to have a positive impact on their employment, creating new jobs and opportunities.
• 13% believe that AI could cause job losses; and only one in eight people believes that AI could take their job.
• The use of generative AI in the workplace is increasing faster than the use of computers or the Internet.

While it is undeniable that there will be changes in labor demand, the report states that delegating tasks to machines can free people to spend more time on other aspects of life, such as creative work, patient care, education, or learning and developing new skills; tasks in which machines are deficient and the human component is inherently valuable.

In addition, AI can improve industrial capacity and lead to greater diversification of value chains, as well as better markets for self-employed workers. It can lead to new knowledge and skills for the benefit of all people, from farmers to small business owners. And it will create new roles for humans in ways we cannot yet imagine.

Within the framework of the Artificial intelligence act and the lines of work of the Spanish Agency for the Supervision of Artificial Intelligence (AESIA), special mention deserves the approach advocated by the report: a human-centered AI. To this end, it identifies three areas of action:

1. Build a “complementary” economy so that people collaborate with AI instead of competing with it. Enhancing human intelligence, empowering workers, and strategically deploying AI are key.
2. Promote purposeful innovation, integrating human action throughout the entire AI lifecycle, from design to implementation.
3. Invest in relevant capabilities so that people can make the most of AI in their lives, addressing risks and concerns related to bias, privacy, affordability, and fairness.

Together, these three areas invite policymakers to make decisions, to decide how to use AI to create opportunities to address climate change, conflicts, mass migration, and the rapid rise in inequalities.

Finally, the report also invites reflection by stating that risks are just one part of the issue; artificial intelligence offers many more possibilities for the common good, and harnessing them to meet people's expectations for a better life depends on more than algorithms: it is a matter of choices.

The full report can be consulted at the following link:

A Matter of Choices - United Nations Development Programme