In an interview by Norihiro Suzuki, Chairman of the Board of Hitachi Research Institute, UNU Rector Tshilidzi Marwala discusses the evolution and future of artificial intelligence, and the foundations and frameworks for its governance so it can provide durable solutions for sustainable development.
"At the end of the day, it is important to remember that generative AI cannot create anything truly new; it generates outputs based on existing data used to train its models. If the training data is incomplete or flawed, problems like inaccuracies and hallucinations will arise. Therefore, when we look to the future, we need to consider how the evolution of AI will unfold ... Crucially though, AI must become more adaptable as it evolves. Humans have always been able to adjust quickly to new conditions, so self-adaptive AI systems will be important.
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"The first step is grounding governance in values. As the United Nations, we say our values are derived from the principles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. When we apply something, it must protect people, not harm them. The other guiding document is the UN Charter. AI should not be used to support the invasion of another country, for example. That is quite important.
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"Speaking from an engineering perspective, we need to think much more vigorously about how technology can be used to advance the SDGs. This includes applying technological advancements in energy, healthcare, agriculture, education, and climate change mitigation."
Read the full interview on the Hitachi Research Institute website.
Suggested citation: "The Path to Sustainable Development with AI," United Nations University, UNU Centre, 2025-09-22, https://unu.edu/article/path-sustainable-development-ai.
