Indrajit Banerjee

Director, Knowledge Societies Division of UNESCO

Indrajit Banerjee makes a speech about AI for sustainable development at the World Intelligence Congress in Tianjin, June 29, 2017. [Photo by Yu Jie/Provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

"AI has experienced explosive growth, and it would play a critical role in areas such as medical healthcare and education," Indrajit said.

So how can the power of AI be harnessed for social good?

Taking "SDG 1: No poverty" for example, AI will provide real-time resource allocation through satellite mapping and data analysis. Compared with door-to-door surveys to locate people living in poverty, the newly developed approach will be able to make fairly accurate predictions of impoverished areas.