New technologies will improve life but boost inequality

New technologies from artificial intelligence to gene editing hold immense potential to improve people’s lives — but can also drive greater inequality and social dislocation, according to a UN report launched Monday.

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

UN 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.”

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