UN Report: Technologies Can Help Lives But Boost Inequality

New technologiesfrom artificial intelligence to gene editing hold immense potential to improve people's live - but can also drive greater inequality and social dislocation, according to a U.N. report launched this week.

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The World Economic and Social Survey 2018 focused on whether leading edge technologies can be used to meet U.N. goals for 2030 including ending extreme poverty, preserving the environment and promoting economic growth.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said “frontier technologies — from DNA sequencing to 3D-printing, from renewable energy technologies to biodegradable plastics, from machine learning to artificial intelligence — present immense potential for the 2030 agenda.”

“Good health and longevity, prosperity for all and environmental sustainability are within our reach if we harness the full power of these innovations,” he said in the foreword to the report. “However, these same technologies also raise serious concerns.”

Guterres urged governments to adopt policies that ensure that frontier technologies “are not only commercially viable but also equitable and ethical.”