Leveraging Technology for Humanity’s Progress

Emerging technologies such as AI, blockchain, quantum computing and biotechnology hold immense potential to address some of the pressing global challenges we face today: climate change, food insecurity, education, healthcare, water conservation, ageing and disaster preparedness.

Climate change, in particular, stands to benefit the most from newer technologies, given the pressing and interconnected nature of the problem. In recent years, we’ve witnessed an intensification of climate-related extreme weather events, ranging from prolonged droughts or rainfall or warming seas. These worsening weather patterns have greatly increased the risks around safe and clean water, food production and the availability and intensity of global disease incidences.

If left unchecked, climate change will heighten annual deaths between 2030 and 2050 from undernutrition, malaria, diarrhea and heat stress alone, with direct damages to health amounting to US$2 billion-US$4 billion per year by 2030. Furthermore, climate change and water scarcity could lead to crop yield failures by more than 4.5 times by 2030 and up to 25 times higher by 2050, across global crop breadbaskets such as India, China and the United States.

Already between 2014 and 2023, extreme weather events have caused economic losses of US$2 trillion in 2023 prices. More worrying is the fact that in just 2022 and 2023, extreme weather events have led to economic damages worth US$451 billion, from human deaths and destruction to physical assets.

Emerging technologies hold the key, but it must be developed and implemented holistically to ensure equitable benefits for all. Global leaders should give equal focus to developing cooperative frameworks that ensure technological advancements are shared inclusively, avoiding any risk of widening inequalities.

Shaping the Future

One of the technologies that is paving the way towards a more equitable future is AI.

There are myriad examples of how AI is making an impact, such as during COVID-19 when the technology was used by scientists to create a vaccine at a much faster rate.

Machine learning algorithms helped accelerate the process in a fraction of time than it would usually take for human researchers to identify the key spike proteins needed to develop the COVID-19 vaccine. Not just this, AI also helped in narrowing down on participants for clinical trials. AI also has the potential to revolutionize healthcare delivery, but to ensure its benefits are realized for all will require the availability of high-quality data as well as efforts to mitigate algorithmic biases and establish ethical frameworks.

In the space of education, blockchain is already helping with identity verification of micro credentials across institutional and national boundaries. It not only helps in the mobility of verifiable digital credentials but could also reduce the rate of fraud by implementing transparent and tamper-resistant records of certificates. In 2017, the Ministry for Education and Employment, Malta partnered with Learning Machine to deploy a nationwide pilot for a year, to issue digital credentials notarized via the Blockcerts open standard.

After its success, the government of Malta extended the program for two years to include all academic, technical and vocational education, and training institutions in Malta. Other than verifying student credentials, blockchain has the potential to also transform IP rights, disbursement of microloans and microcredits for education, payment of tuition fees, and safeguarding student’s personal information.

“As the world moves towards the age of Web 3.0, blockchain is arguably the crypto key to the metaverse,” said Stefania Giannini, UNESCO assistant director-general for Education. “It is therefore imperative for education policymakers to understand the uses and implications of blockchain and put measures in place to harness its potential for the common good.”

As the intensity of extreme weather events continue to rise, it is imperative to equip disaster preparedness ability for urban and rural areas to withstand such incidences. AI holds immense potential to enhance early warning systems (EWS) to protect vulnerable communities from climate-related extreme events, such as floods, storms or droughts. AI is already being used in the World Meteorological Organization’s Severe Weather Information Center to consolidate and disseminate severe weather information. It also can communicate early warnings through various channels, by translating warnings into multiple languages.

Technology For All

To ensure that the benefits of AI is realized by all, addressing the digital divide is crucial, which can be achieved through the development of global guidelines and frameworks for the ethical use of AI. Global leaders should stive to foster collaboration between AI experts, humanitarian actors, and communities to ensure that AI is used responsibly and effectively.

In his keynote address in the first ever Summit of the Future in the 79th United Nations General Assembly held in September 2024, CEO of Google and Alphabet, Sundar Pichai called for a united front in using AI to accelerate progress for everyone.

“With AI, we have the chance to be inclusive from the start, and to ensure that the digital divide doesn’t become an AI divide,” he said. “This is a challenge that needs to be met by the private sector and public sector working together.”

Horasis also believes the same—AI for good, for all. At the upcoming Horasis Global Meeting, scheduled to take place in São Paulo, Brazil, between 7 to 10 October 2025, we will hear opinions and experiences from global leaders from diverse backgrounds on finding cooperative frameworks to our present challenges.

Photo Caption: Emerging technologies hold the key to success.