The “AI for the SDGs” event featured Professor Arthur G.O. Mutambara in a conversation about how artificial intelligence can be used to advance the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The discussion focused on the idea that AI should not just be treated as a technical tool, but as a force that can drive human development, reduce poverty, improve access to education and healthcare, strengthen agriculture and infrastructure, and support more inclusive economic growth. Professor Mutambara emphasized that sustainable development must ultimately improve people’s lives. He argued that AI should be used to address urgent global problems, especially poverty, hunger, energy access, and inequality. At the same time, he warned that AI also carries serious risks, including bias, job displacement, surveillance, militarization, data colonialism, and widening global inequality.

A major theme of the event was the need for the Global South to not only consume AI technologies but also help design, govern, and own them. Mutambara stressed that effective AI adoption requires strong digital infrastructure, energy access, local data sovereignty, diverse teams, and intentional governance. Without these foundations, AI could deepen existing inequalities instead of helping solve them. The event was both hopeful and cautionary. It highlighted AI’s enormous potential to accelerate progress toward the SDGs, while also making clear that this will require leadership, accountability, inclusive design, and a commitment to collective success rather than individual or corporate gain.