The United Nations is increasingly turning to artificial intelligence to tackle some of the world’s most pressing challenges, deploying the technology across education, healthcare, climate action, humanitarian response, peace and security while simultaneously pushing for stronger global rules to ensure AI serves people rather than deepening existing inequalities.
Rather than treating artificial intelligence solely as an emerging technological frontier, UN agencies are increasingly exploring how it can be applied to practical challenges affecting vulnerable communities, particularly in countries where shortages of specialists, infrastructure and resources continue to limit access to essential services.
One example is six-year-old Ari in Jamaica, whose learning difficulties had made conventional studying challenging. Through artificial intelligence, existing textbooks can now be converted into interactive formats personalised to his learning needs, potentially giving him greater access to educational content that might otherwise remain difficult to use.
Pia Rebello Britto, UNICEF’s Global Director of Education and Adolescent Development, noted the importance of such applications ultimately lies in the difference they can make in children’s lives.
“The real impact is what this means for children. There are countless more examples like Ari’s, showing what becomes possible when digital learning is designed to reach every child.”
Pia Rebello Britto
The initiative forms part of UNICEF’s Accessible Digital Textbooks for All programme, which was developed to address a major barrier facing children with disabilities: access to learning materials that accommodate their individual needs.
Nearly 240 million children worldwide live with disabilities, making accessibility a significant challenge for education systems seeking to achieve universal and inclusive learning.
Although the programme predates the rapid expansion of generative AI, newer AI-assisted capabilities have expanded its potential. The initiative is now operating in 17 countries and reaching nearly two million children, with UNICEF aiming to extend it to 50 countries by 2030.
For UNICEF, however, the development of AI-powered education is not simply about introducing sophisticated technology.
According to the UN agency, communities must remain at the centre of the design process, ensuring that digital solutions respond to the actual needs of the people they are intended to serve.
AI Helps UN Detect Methane, Screen for TB and Strengthen Crisis Response
Beyond education, artificial intelligence is already being deployed by UN agencies to address environmental and public health challenges with potentially far-reaching consequences.
One of the most significant applications is the UN Environment Programme’s Methane Alert and Response System, launched in 2024 to identify major methane leaks using satellite data and artificial intelligence.
Methane is a particularly potent greenhouse gas and a major contributor to global warming.
UNEP Climate Change Division Director Martin Krause described efforts to detect and repair methane leaks as an urgent intervention in the fight against climate change.
“Everybody, every person, citizen anywhere in the world who is concerned about climate change must have an interest in slowing down global warming, and fixing methane leaks is the emergency brake.”
Martin Krause
MARS uses AI to analyse information collected by 30 satellites and identify methane plumes that might otherwise be difficult to detect. According to UNEP, AI can identify leaks between 12 and 15 times faster and with greater accuracy than humans.
Since its launch, the system has generated approximately 7,500 alerts and contributed to 42 mitigation actions. UNEP estimates that the interventions have helped prevent methane emissions equivalent to the annual emissions of 24 million gas-powered cars since 2024.
According to Krause, “this is not the UN building a task force and discussing a problem and having a meeting. This is real stuff. This is happening as we speak.”
AI is also being used to address one of the world’s deadliest infectious diseases: tuberculosis.
With support from the World Health Organization, developing countries are increasingly using computer-aided detection technology to analyse chest X-rays for signs of TB. The technology can rapidly generate a likelihood score, helping health workers identify patients who may require further testing and treatment.
Dr. Vanessa Veronese, a scientist at the WHO’s Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases, revealed that the technology is helping patients move more quickly from diagnosis to treatment.
The implications are particularly significant in countries where radiologists and other specialised medical professionals are scarce.
Earlier detection can also help reduce transmission because patients with infectious tuberculosis can be identified and treated sooner. In Ethiopia, for instance, the technology has potential relevance for gold miners who face increased risks of TB because of exposure to dust and silica.
WHO officially recommended computer-aided detection for TB screening in adults in 2021 and has since supported countries in adopting the technology, including by providing implementation guidance, helping programmes calibrate software and assessing health outcomes.
“It really does help overcome these historical barriers around skilled personnel, access, cost, availability all of these access barriers that prohibit good health.”
Dr. Vanessa Veronese
Moreover, UN agencies are using the technology to support landmine detection, assess disaster damage, identify suspicious financial transactions, monitor radioactive contamination and advance nuclear fusion research.
These applications are helping transform AI from an abstract technological development into a practical instrument for addressing humanitarian and development challenges.
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