The AI economy
January 16, 2025
What is the AI economy? The Global Stage series experts explain how artificial intelligence is creating a new economy.
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What is the AI economy? The Global Stage series experts explain how artificial intelligence is creating a new economy.
AI’s impact on healthcare is expected to outpace education, according to Microsoft’s Brad Smith. AI is revolutionizing drug discovery and precision medicine, flowing naturally to doctors. But education evolves more slowly—tools alone aren't enough. It requires buy-in from teachers, students, and families. Smith emphasizes that while technology offers potential, true progress happens when people are brought along together on the journey, ensuring AI serves society.
AI for Good is more than a buzzword—it's a powerful tool tackling global challenges like food security, disaster response, and water conservation. Microsoft’s Brad Smith highlights real-world examples, such as using AI to analyze water data in Kenya, offering actionable solutions for governments and communities. Through collaborations with universities and NGOs, AI is driving progress on the UN's Sustainable Development Goals, turning technology into a force for societal improvement.
How do we ensure AI is safe, available to everyone, and enhancing productivity? It’s a big topic at this year’s UN General Assembly. That’s why GZERO’s Global Stage livestream brought together leading experts at the heart of the action for “Live from the United Nations: Securing our Digital Future,” an event produced in partnership between the Complex Risk Analytics Fund, or CRAF’d, and GZERO Media’s Global Stage series, sponsored by Microsoft.
In a world where humanity put a man on the moon before adding wheels to luggage, the rapid advancements in AI seem almost paradoxical. Microsoft’s chief data scientist Juan Lavista, in a recent Global Stage conversation with Tony Maciulis, highlighted this contrast to emphasize how swiftly AI has evolved, particularly in the last few years.
With an estimated 4 billion people—almost half the world’s population—set to vote or have already voted in the 2024 elections, AI's influence has been minimal so far, but its potential impact looms large. Ginny Badanes, general manager of Democracy Forward at Microsoft, explained that while AI-driven disruptions like deep fake videos and robocalls haven't altered results yet, they have undermined public trust.
At the current rate of progress toward gender equality, the World Economic Forum estimates it will take 131 years for women to attain parity in income, status, and leadership. While technology is a powerful tool to help close the gender gap, it can also be weaponized.
With AI tools already being used to manipulate voters across the globe via deepfakes, more needs to be done to help people comprehend what this technology is capable of, says Microsoft vice chair and president Brad Smith.
In recent years, numerous reports and studies have emerged warning that democracies around the world are backsliding and autocracy is on the rise. A free media could be the key to reversing this trend, according to former Estonian President Kersti Kaljulaid.
European Parliament member Eva Maydell said she fears we will soon be unable to separate fact from deepfake fiction.