Humanity at the Center: Global Citizenship, Ethical AI, and the Water–Energy–Food Nexus for Transformative SDG Action (HLPF 2026 Side Event)

Hello, ladies and gentlemen and distinguished guests, colleagues, and our friends and our youth groups. Welcome to today's side event, HAPF side event titled Humanity at the Center: Global Citizenship, Ethical AI, and the Water-Energy-Food Nexus for Transformative SDG Action. So I would like to provide this platform for our partner and collaborator, United Nations Office for Sustainable Development. Head of the office is here, Mr. Jung-Gyu Park. Everyone, please give him a big clap. Thank you. Thank you.

His Excellency Ambassador Sang-jin Kim, Deputy Permanent Representative of the Republic of Korea to the United Nations. Dr. Peter Prajiosi, President of the Conference of NGOs in Consecutive Relations with the United Nations, CO-NGO. Mr. Mi-young Jin, Director of the East Asia Global Education Institute, IEGI. On behalf of Mr. Soo-Mun Do, Head of the Inter-Metropolitan Office of Education, distinguished representatives of member states, UN entities, civil society, academia, private sector, and most important, youth representatives, ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon and welcome to this HLPM side event on Humanity at the Center: Global Citizenship at Ethical AI and Water Energy Food Nexus for Transformative Action. It is great my pleasure to welcome you on behalf of the United Nations Office for Sustainable Development. I sincerely thank the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Korea, our co-organizers, and other partners to bring us together. As we look at the current world situation, Our deep concerns placed on the center interconnected with the connected challenges like climate change, inequality, resource insecurity, and digital transformation. Artificial intelligence, AI, offers much of various opportunities, including for smart water management, cleaner energy, sustainable food solutions and resilient cities. However, technology must be guided by human values. Ethical AI, global citizenship, and inclusive education are essential to ensure that innovation protects dignity, advances equity, and serves, serves the common good. Water-energy food nexus reminds us that sustainable development cannot be achieved in silos. Our responses must be integrated, coordinated, and grounded in partnership. I'm very pleased that today's program brings together youth innovators, member states, UN entities, civil society, and academia. I think this is the key value of SDG 17. I hope today's dialogue strengthens cooperation and inspires Action Portal, Sustainable Future for All. Thank you for your attention.

It's a very welcoming remark. So we also have a co-organizer partner from Incheon Office of Education, Metropolitan Office of Education, East Asia Global Education Institute. The director is here on behalf of the superintendent, the head of the Incheon Metropolitan Office of Education, Mr. Song Hoon-do. She is here on behalf of him. Please, she has welcoming warm remarks.

Good afternoon, everyone. I am Director Jin from the Incheon Metropolitan City Office of Education, Republic of Korea. On behalf of Superintendent Do Sung-hoon, I have the privilege of leading a delegation of high school students from Incheon. It is a great honor to welcome you to our UN side event forum here in New York. Today, our students are here not only to present But also to listen and learn from all of you. We believe that even small ideas can make a meaningful difference when we cooperate. I hope today's forum will inspire all of us to build a better and more sustainable future together. Thank you very much for joining us, and I hope you enjoy today's forum.

Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you so much. I don't know how our opening remarks speaker, our honorary, His Excellency Ambassador Sang-jin Kim, could give us more inspiring comments because welcoming remarks speakers already gave a lot of inspiring notes. So here, please, it is my great honor to welcome our great Ambassador, Ambassador Sang-jin Kim, Deputy Permanent Representative of Korea, Republic of Korea, to the United Nations here. Please welcome him with a big clap. Thank you.

Thank you, In fact, I have attended meetings like today's over the last 2 years, which bring together young innovators. Through those experiences, I became convinced that such gatherings provide a valuable platform where young generations can seriously reflect on how they respond to diverse challenges we now face. This is because future generations must be at the forefront of shaping the future. More importantly, such platforms help contribute a strong sense of global citizenship by encouraging young participants to engage with global issues and contribute to meaningful and creative solutions. At those meetings, I also emphasized that in light of my 32 years of experience as a diplomat, cultivating a genuine, genuine sense of global citizenship that transcends narrow self-interest is by no means an easy journey. In a few moments, you will hear from students in China Korea, Cameroon, and the United States, who did not wait for permissions to solve real problems, from flood warning systems to circular water-energy-food models. We will hear also from pioneers in sustainable farming and from experts working to keep AI pointed toward the common good. There is What gives me the greatest hope? The generation who will inherit these challenges is already, already rising to meet them. What makes today's meeting even more meaningful is that it comes at a time when the challenges we continue to face, such as displacement, inequalities, and a widening digital divide, are becoming increasingly severe. At the same time, AI, AI is rapidly permeating every aspect of our lives. In other words, it is into this world, already strained, already unequal, that AI now arrives, advancing faster than our institutions can govern it. And that is precisely why the choices we make about this technology carry such weight. Already, AI is helping communities manage water more wisely, deliver cleaner energy, and build cities that can hold up under pressure. The tools exist, and they are working. Now, what remains open is not whether we use them, but how, by whom, And according to what values? This is where the Republic of Korea places its conviction that innovation must be anchored in human dignity, that water, energy, and food must be governed as one connected whole, not 3 separate concerns, and that global citizenship Mutual respect, shared responsibility, a sense of duty to one another across borders offers the moral architecture this technological age so urgently needs. Today's gathering is, in miniature, the future we are walking toward. Governments, the United Nations, universities, businesses, civil society, and youth together in one room, it is SDG 17 made visible. And it rests on a simple belief: the technology at its base does not replace human judgment. It gives us more room to exercise it well. Dear colleagues, our tools will only ever be as wise as the value we bring to them. So let us make certain that when future generations ask what we placed at the center of our choices, the answer is unmistakable: we placed humanity there. I wish you today a rich and rewarding discussion. I thank you.

Thank you. Thank you so much, Ambassador Sung Jin Kim. As usual, he provided very important background concept of this importance of global citizenship and what we really need to pursue to keep our humanity at the center. Thank you so much for your wonderful remarks. So now I would like to have a pleasure and honor to introduce our keynote speaker, Dr. Kaba Madani. He is Director of UN University INWEH, highlighting water, environment, and health. Dr. Madani is also the founding chair of the UN New Sustainability Nexus AID program and a research professor at the City University of New York, Remote Sensing Earth Systems Institute. Sounds very fancy and very interesting. He has also served as Deputy Head of Iran's Department of Environment and Vice President of the Environment Assembly Bureau. So here we would like to learn a lot about water and energy and food, how health, how it all interconnected. So here he is. Please, floor is yours.

Thank you very much. I don't think I can teach all of that information in a few minutes, but it's good to be together here and speak about that nexus, the nexus that creates a lot of trade-offs but a lot of opportunities for us. I know I have some slides. I don't know. Yeah, okay. So essentially, the good thing that we are learning is the increased appreciation for the nexus of water, food, energy, health, and other elements. If you think about the SDGs, if you think about what we have to achieve by 2030, automatically you've got to think about the connections and interconnections and the nexus. That's very clear. What's challenging for us is dealing with the trade-offs and operationalizing the nexus concept when it comes to implementation, when it comes to decision-making, because at the end of the day, we have governments, and governments have different sectors and different agencies, and these agencies, although have interconnected missions and mandates, but at the end of the day, sometimes they make separate decisions, and integrating everything sounds easy in theory, but implementation becomes hard. Still though, we are seeing a lot of progress when it comes to appreciating the complexities, understanding the trade-offs, understanding how a move or a change in the water sector impacts the agricultural sector, and a decision in the energy sector impacts the land sector, how— because today is a day that we talk about, for example, sand and dust storms on the International Day of Sand and Dust Storms. It's good to, for example, think about this problem, the problem that is related to land degradation. It's related to agriculture. It's related to wars and the explosions and destruction of different places. It's related to migration and abandoning land. And when you have a dust episode that is increasing around the world today. The World Material— WMO published a report giving us those statistics, showing us how things can get affected. Once you have a dust episode, not only you affect people's health, but the dust particles can sit on the electricity grid and you have power outage. You have power outage, immediately you have water utilities stopping working. With that, you have water outage, people cannot go out, aviation stops working. flight disruptions around the world affect supply chains around the world and lots of things. Now, when it comes to the action, then the question is where do we address and where do we intervene? And of course you have a lot of things that you need to change, but the question is where am I going to be more effective with the limited resources, with the limited funds and time that we have? Where do I start? And that's something that is always helpful. So we have, you know, we are in the midst of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. We are very excited about our computational capacity, unprecedented capacity to measure, do remote sensing, understanding what is going on around the world, dealing with big data, processing everything, and what we can do these days even on our cell phone or our watch. might be much stronger than what I could do with like, you know, 5 computers in my office when I was doing my dissertation and running our models. So things have changed significantly and we have a lot of power. But that power itself for the 4th Industrial Revolution, which is supposed to address some of the problems we created in the previous industrial revolutions, come with also impacts. So last month we published this report on the AI's environmental footprints, water, carbon, and land that led to actually the launch of a new initiative by the Secretary-General of the United Nations called AI Environmental Transparency Initiative, calling on the private sector to report their water, carbon, and land footprint. Why is that important? Because a lot of times we talk about AI, we talk about the energy demand, a lot of people talk about carbon, But it was new to now to talk about also water and land footprints. And in the report, we highlighted the fact that we might be very excited in some places saying that we are going with renewables, but wait a minute, some of the renewables have a lot of water footprint or a lot of land footprint. And if you don't think about it, you try to solve one problem, but you're creating new problems. This doesn't mean that AI is bad in any way. This doesn't mean that we should not be using AI, But it means that as our ancestors and the previous generations thought that they had the perfect solution and the Industrial Revolution could have solved the problem, we should think twice and remember that there would be unintended consequences. There would be other impacts that we have to proactively manage. But speaking of the downside of AI, of course, there are also other opportunities that come comes with these innovations. We have this power to sense at different scales. We have the power to produce information out of data at different scale and highlight what is going on in the Nexus world. The Nexus world is going to be complex. The Nexus world is associated with a lot of uncertainties, trade-offs, interrelated dynamics. You tweak one thing and other things would change, but that's That's good. I think that's fun. We can go through things and understand what is going on. But it is important if we want to address the environmental problems of the world, we don't have obsession only with one sector. If you only are thinking to address the climate change problem only through carbon reduction and ignoring everything else, then the solution cannot be sustainable. The Water Bankruptcy Report of the United Nations University that came in January highlighted this important fact, that the world has entered the era of water bankruptcy. We have more and more basin systems that enter the bankruptcy state, meaning that they're suffering from both insolvency and irreversibility, and they can never bounce back to where they were. Why? To where they were. Why? Because the natural capital that supports water production and water resilience is degrading. That means that the water problem is not a water problem only. If you want to protect water, you have to think about forests, you have to think about land, you have to think about glaciers, you have to think about everything else related to that machinery that produces water. That means addressing the water problem would not be feasible if we do not think about the farmers around the world. 70% of the world's water is in the hands of farmers, and they're the ones who control water. And if you want to address the water issues, you cannot just say, Remove the subsidies and do this and do that because the world needs food and those people need jobs and those need employment. Now, AI and all the innovations that we have help us make things more efficient, create opportunities out of the nexus, and that's something that we should adopt. The nexus thinking should come with detection and recognition of those opportunities and using the opportunities for improving the quality of everything, the state of humanity, quality of life for people, and the state of the planet. And you would hear more about this from the different innovations and different things that people have been able to accomplish. Of course, we also have to do a good job of tracking everything and understanding them, using them for ensuring that our progress to the future, our transition to sustainability would be— transition to the better future would be sustainable and would be fair. And I want to end with referring to another report that also we've published a few months ago. Again, a very good definition of nexus where we highlighted what happens in the critical mineral supply chain at the top of the chain when you extract the critical minerals that we need to support the 4th Industrial Revolution, to produce solar panels, to produce EVs, to do all the things we're doing with the AI. And if you look at that report, you realize that in many, many of those locations, we are actively actually creating pollution. We're actively hurting people. There are people who die of pollution, are dealing with cancer because we are not thinking about the furnace. This doesn't mean that critical minerals must not be extracted, But it means that if you want to save the future generations in, for example, North America, we have to also think about the current generations in Africa and South America and parts of Asia. So that if we adopt that nexus thinking, then we just don't blindly think one technology is good or bad. AI is just like a knife. With a knife, you can save a patient's life in the operating room, or you can kill someone as a murderer. The way we use a technology determines if that technology is our friend or enemy. And I think with your help and all of us together with the use of science and Nexus Thinking, we can make AI and Nexus Thinking our good friend, the friend of humanity, the friend of future generations, and the friend of nature. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you so much, Dr. Madani. It was really helpful information. We can start today's panel discussion, and it is really important we— how we are gonna use AI, right? So today's session is going to be like this: what global citizens can do, youth and multi-stakeholders co-creating AI-enabled SDG solutions. Based on our keynote speaker's introduction to all interconnected elements of technology and human life and how AI can be integrated into this relationship, that is today's question. So let me have a chance to introduce today's session in a little more detail. Today's session begins with a simple but important idea. Technology alone does not determine our future, as you may already have thought about. Our future depends on the value. As you may notice, humanity at the center. Why is that? We have to put value first in how we decide And relationship, we have to aware of relationship guiding how technology is developed and used. Artificial intelligence can help us manage water, energy, and food system, and so that we can build more resilient city, right? But at the same time, AI systems consume water and energy as well at the same time, as Dr. Madani mentioned, like a knife.

Yeah.

both sides. So may deepen inequality and can create unintended social and environmental consequences. So the question is therefore not only what can AI do, it is also what should AI do. Should is very important part here. For whom and under whose guidance? So we come up with this important concept, also guiding ethical point. Global citizenship gives us an ethical starting point. It reminds us that local decisions can have global consequences and that innovation should protect human dignity, very importantly, promote inclusion, and serve the common good. So having that all in our mind, In this session, experts here and also Dr. Madani also addressed this issue, and our young innovators from high school through college and graduate school sitting here, and university students, yet private sector leader— we have also private sector leader— will help us move from principle to practice. We are not just talking. Our session highlights what really can be done, practical elements. So we will hear how global learning can inspire locally grounded solutions. Again, locally grounded solutions. It's not some— somewhere from the website and everybody's talking commonly, very specific elements. We will hear how AI can connect complex systems and how promising ideas may be implemented responsibly, and what scale? That's what we would like to talk about. So let's see, 3 key questions. Audience, please, at the end of this whole conversation, we are going to invite you to ask questions and discuss further. And furthermore, you might be coming from— can I ask you, are you from local here, United States? Can you raise your hand?

Yes.

Majority of them are US citizens, right? And how about some other continent? Asia? Yeah, very little, few. And Africa? Africa? Yeah, very good. And Oceania? America, like North and South? Yeah.

Oh, wow.

We have many American people. Very good. Quite mixed, but we can still see we have majority of this audience are US, United States citizen. When you say American, then Latin Americans say we are also American, right? I agree with that. So we are going to have AI-assisted little bit of conversation to reflect much more diverse perspective from all around the world. Let's see how AI asks questions to all of us at the end. So number one, how can we ensure that AI-enabled innovation begins with human dignity, inclusion, and shared responsibility rather than with technology alone? Second one, how can AI help us address water, energy, food, infrastructure, and urban challenges as connected systems rather than separate problems. What is needed to move locally grounded youth ideas— please listen carefully to their ideas, please— from the classroom or prototype stage toward responsible implementation, partnership, and wider impact. All of you, hopefully you can help them to continue their initiative and make it happen for humanity. So first, to provide some background in a very meaningful way, let's just start with ethical point, which is global citizenship. We have honor to have Dr. Brian Mujaz. He is director of GNEG, Global NGO Sorry, I'm educator, so always E become education. But NGO Executive Committee, Assistant Professor, School of Diplomacy and International Relations, Seton Hall University. So he's gonna provide some ethical value-oriented concept of global citizenship that will guide all of us go toward better humanity. Here he comes.

Distinguished panelists, colleagues, and friends, thank you. As an educator of the Diplomacy and International Relations School at Seton Hall University and treasurer of the Global NGO Executive Committee, It is an honor to speak here. It is fitting that we gather under the banner of Humanity at the Center because this year marks the 10th anniversary of the Gyeongju Action Plan on Education for Global Citizenship adopted by civil society at the 66th UN DPI NGO Conference in the Republic of Korea in 2016. The Gyeongju Action Plan made a simple claim: our primary identity is human. Not our nationality, not our sector, not our technology. Before anything else, we belong to one another. That claim was not naive in 2016, and it is not naive now. AI has only made it more urgent. We are told AI can manage resources, power green cities, and model whole systems. This is true, but technology has no values of its own. It inherits ours. The Gyeongju drafters knew this a decade before generative AI shaped daily life. They called for education that builds care for the earth, solidarity, and ethical reasoning so that when new tools arrive, people already know what they are for. This is the real nexus question beneath today's technical one: not only how systems connect, but whom they serve. A circular economy that displaces the poor is not sustainable. However efficient it may be, an AI system without accountability is not ethical. Global citizenship disciplines us to keep asking who benefits. So in this anniversary year, let us renew not just recall the Gyeongju commitments. The youth innovators presenting shortly prove the commitments work. They are not waiting for governance to catch up. They are building what we need now and will need in the future. Humanity at the center is not a slogan. It is a design constraint. 10 years ago, we wrote it into education for global citizenship. Today, we can write it into how we govern our machines. Thank you.

Thank you so much, Dr. Mouzaz. I know you are watching this through the UN Web TV. He was supposed to be here, but Unfortunately, due to his, uh, some injury, he couldn't make it. So he wanted to share, uh, his wish to make a successful event and then apology for not being here today. So I would like to ask— actually, I'm very grateful. We are very grateful that Professor Madani is still here with us. He offered his insight to join this conversation. So I'd like to ask Dr. Madani, I know you have been interviewed in many channels, news channels and series. And data— AI data center has issue, right? Can you briefly just summarize very briefly what issue it has and what your suggestion for us?

Thanks for the question. I mean, the first thing we have to understand and explain is that although the public discourse considers AI as a digital technology or, you know, something up in the cloud, there are massive material flows associated with it, and there are major infrastructure that support the operation. So, the first thing is to understand that There is some physics there. You know, the AI is not a virtual thing. It's a physical product in a way. So that's the first thing to understand. And if we do that, then we have to start thinking about the whole value chain of AI from the point that you extract the critical minerals to the point of producing the semiconductors and so on, then construction of AI.

Yeah.

Data centers, then, you know, then the operations of data centers and later disposal of the electronic waste. So that's what's happening. Now, a lot of people are only talking about what is happening at the data centers, and we see a lot of clashes between communities because people are concerned about the local environmental impacts, which are also important to consider. But if you think about the local environmental impacts, Building the infrastructure requires energy and operating the infrastructure requires a lot of energy. So we have to make sure that there is enough grid capacity there. And if you are putting new energy resources, you do not stop the decarbonization process. This is what is happening right now because AI as a whole is growing so rapidly that the world's progress toward decarbonization is being compromised. because whatever we bring to the grid is being swallowed by AI. Then you have, that means that there is also carbon footprints to consider, the opportunity cost. And then you need water to produce energy, but also for cooling. Some technologies and innovations help us reduce the water demand of cooling. And then you have land footprint associated with producing energy and building it. Yeah. Of these infrastructure. So our solution is simple. We have to think about, of course, efficiency improvement, but we have to also understand that efficiency improvement on its own cannot solve the problem. Again, nexus and trade-offs, because what we have learned throughout history is there's a paradox there. When efficiency improves, things become more affordable. That means that use increases. So we will have more and more consumers more users, and that means that all those efficiency gains are neutralized and are canceled out. So efficiency improvements must be there, but then we also need to do a better job of monitoring and regulating, understanding and even charging for pollution if needed, incentivizing the companies to go through the route of innovation and efficiency improvement, also disclosing their information, letting us know about what is going on. So they got to be transparent. But we in the report have talked about responsibilities for all sorts of stakeholders. Governments that can do a better job of regulating and controlling and ensuring that the process is sustainable and equitable. Companies that have to report this data, make sure that their local communities would not suffer because of water shortage. They benefit equally from the employment opportunities, the economic gains. And then also share that information. And then users. We have a new form of consumerism in the world that is important to note because we keep using more and more AI and we are developing a lifestyle that is new. There are things that now we do that 3 years ago we were not doing. I could look at my watch and see what time it is rather than asking ChatGPT to tell me. I could look at the, you know, recipe online and cook something, a foreign dish, without asking ChatGPT. I can type instead of asking for, like, you know, issuing a voice command. And even in the report, you can see that we talk about prompts that are more concise. If your prompt is shorter and more concise, you have a lower footprint because the energy needed for processing is lower. You don't have to be too polite when you're talking to AI, don't be rude. But then, and don't also, don't say thank you too many times and don't fall in love. Don't date AI. They're your servants, so don't fall in love. They're there to do the things that you tell them. You don't have to share too much.

Thank you so much, Dr. Madani. Well, by the way, it's very hard, right? They are so kind. But another note here is if AI will how can it respond as we treat it? So, some mention also, if you don't say thank you, they're going to learn it from— learn from human beings. So, it's very paradoxical, we have to say. So, briefly speaking, Professor Madani is saying don't use AI unnecessarily, right? Use it when it's really needed. That's true. Why I like it, Why? Who's going to prevent? Here is a responsibility, responsible use. You see, you always think about the impact of it. So, by the way, very surprisingly, we went through global exchange collaborative learning throughout the semester, and then we put Chinese students, Korean students, India and Cameroon, many different schools. But very interestingly, Chinese students and Korean students come up with the same same problem acknowledgement. Okay, they come up with a challenge with data center. So we heard from, uh, Dr. Madani about his perspective, not to use too much. And then let's hear how students are suggesting. Here you go, from Hanyul High School in South Korea. They couldn't come, so they recorded.

Good afternoon, honorable guests, ladies and gentlemen. We are representing Hanlim High School from South Korea. It is a privilege to stand before you here today. In partnership with IBEKA, we are excited to share our innovative youth project. Now, we would like to begin our presentation. Our issue is that data centers are consuming incredible amounts of electricity and water resources. The surge in consumption is driven by the heavy computation required for training and running massive AI models. Because these servers operate nonstop, they create a lot of waste heat and require intense cooling demands. This problem is related to SDG 11, specifically Target 3. This target focuses on enhancing inclusive and sustainable urbanization. For this goal, enhancing resource resilience is necessary. Furthermore, We are seeing escalating urban environmental damage. To achieve this goal, we must address this environmental footprint to ensure our urban planning remains truly sustainable and resilient. We devised 3 solutions: waste heat reuse, immersion cooling, and the digital solidarity funds and youth hub initiatives. The first system that we designed is the tree waste heat reuse system linking the data centers and smart farms. Data centers usually release waste heat through cooling water, creating a problem of the low-grade wastewater disposal. Hence, we reuse this surplus thermal energy to heat smart farms, providing sustainable heating for them throughout the year. Here's the basic idea. First, warm water from data centers is transported to smart farms. Then, heat exchange will occur between the warm effluents and heating water loop, and heat pumps will amplify the energy to provide efficient heating. Next, by increasing the initial water temperature, the heater consumes less energy. Also, the stored surface heat ensures a stable energy supply for smart farms. Here's the AI-generated picture of how the system will look like, and I'll show you how the energy exchange will occur through this. We will increase the reuse of wasted energy targeting the SDGs Target 7.3. To realize this, active global participation such as funding financial incentives will be favored, while consumers should be looking for eco-friendly agricultural products as well. We should launch pilot projects at the beginning, then gradually expand the boundaries of application. This will consequently lead to the partial reduction of carbon emissions.

First, we have single-phase immersion cooling. In this method, the fluid always remains in a permanent liquid state. The process is simple. The liquid absorbs heat directly from the server, mechanical pumps move it to an external heat exchanger to cool down, and it flows right back into the tank. Because there's no evaporation, it's highly cost-effective and easy to maintain. Next is two-phase immersion cooling. Which utilizes phase changes for maximum efficiency. Here, we use a fluid with a very low boiling point. When the chips get hot, the liquid boils and vaporizes into gas, absorbing a massive amount of heat. This vapor rises to the top, hits the cold condenser coils, turns back into liquid, and falls back down naturally due to gravity. It has great efficiency, but needs complex sealed structure and higher cost than single-phase way. Immersion cooling submerges servers in non-conductive liquid, removing heat much more efficiently than air. The advantages include cutting cooling energy by up to 40%, near-zero water use, and ultra-high-density space optimization. In fact, a recent SK Telecom POC proved its power, achieving a PoE of 1.05 and 37% total power reduction.

Next.

Our goal is to reduce cooling energy by 30%, contributing to SDG 11.6 and 11.b. To achieve this, government must provide subsidies, IT companies should develop optimized servers, and engineers must ensure system stability. Our action plan has 3 steps. In short term, give incentives to new data center. In midterm, reuse water heat for smart farms. And long term, create green funds for the future. Immersion cooling is a practical strategy for a more sustainable future. Next is our third solution, the Digital Solidarity Fund and Youth Hub Initiative. In short, this initiative utilizes a real-time resource taxation system instead of a fixed tax to promote balanced regional development. As a background, the Special Act on Activation of Distributed Energy mandates decentralizing data centers but lacks financial financial regulations. To address this, we propose a 3-step plan. First, legislate a real-time tax based on actual power and water consumption. Second, mandate smart meters and provide substantial tax credits for companies adopting eco-technologies such as immersion cooling. Third, transfer the revenue to the reuse fund account to revitalize local economies by remodeling vacant buildings in Tsingnan into multifunctional facilities. I would like to share the 2 advantages of our proposal. First, we are creating an environment at zero extra cost. With the right tax incentives, companies will try to reduce their energy and water consumption on their own. Second, We establish a self-complete regional balance. As data centers use these resources, those costs are reinvested into building youth hubs in the communities suffering from vacant buildings. Our goal is to contribute to SDG targets 11.3 and 11.7 by building sustainable and inclusive communities. To make this work, governments must step up to shape policies and manage these hubs while corporations collaborate closely with locals. Our plan scales from designing tech systems to optimizing monitoring and expanding use of ultimately achieving green infrastructure. In conclusion, we must learn how to use AI wisely in a way that serves the common good of humanity. At the same time, we believe that we as humans bear the bear the responsibility for the environmental impact caused by the AI technologies we have created. We truly believe that we must harness AI for good. while simultaneously acting as responsible global citizens. Thank you for listening.

It's quite impressive, very coordinated action. I believe Dr. Madani want to make some comment on it, but for the time being, let's hear Chinese students' work. Actually narrated by their teacher who guided them, but it's all students' work. Here they are. Can you see the different solutions? Maybe similar to—

Distinguished delegates, global citizens, and audience members from around the world, thank you for the opportunity to address you today. As AI adoption rapidly accelerates, the massive data centers powering them have huge environmental costs and fast-growing tech hubs like my hometown of Shenzhen. Today, I will explore the core issues and present solutions that we can all take to directly support UN Sustainable Development Goal 7 for clean and affordable energy. Data centers already account for an estimated 2.7 to 4% of China's total electricity use and is estimated to grow 15% annually for the next several years. Particularly in Shenzhen, the AI economy and infrastructure construction have become primary economic drivers affecting most industries and individuals in the city, leading our team to focus on this topic. Most large data centers use evaporative cooling towers, where water absorbs heat and evaporates into the air, cutting electricity use but consuming huge volumes of water in the process. This is why China's government now requires new data centers to keep a specific water-to-power ratio for efficiency. China's cheap renewable power such as water, solar, and hydro is concentrated in the north and west of the country, while data center demand comes mostly from coastal hubs like the Greater Bay Area. But heatwaves in these areas bring difficult challenges for cooling electronic equipment. Data heat island effect is caused by the waste heat generated by AI data centers, affecting a 10-kilometer radius around data centers. To solve this issue, interaction and cooperation between governments, operators, and residents are quite important but have conflicting interests and influence. Our first suggested solution is a closed-loop liquid cooling system. Instead of spraying or evaporating water into the air, a sealed loop of coolant runs directly over the server chips, absorbs heat, and is cooled back down by the outside air. NVIDIA and Microsoft have planned similar loop systems that recycle water continuously. A second solution comes from reusing the waste heat. In colder regions, the waste heat generated by AI data centers can be transferred into local residential houses for warmth. In warmer regions, constructing small-scale power plants that capture the waste heat energy for generating electricity is far more feasible and efficient. There is also an alternative of of constructing data centers on the sea floor, with projects already started in Shenzhen. In Shenzhen's Pingshan and Guangning hubs, we can already see Solution One's closed-loop liquid cooling in action. Tencent and Huawei are using closed-loop liquid immersion to handle extreme AI loads in buildings. The key here is recovery, Because the system captures high-grade waste heat to drive nearby cooling chillers, turning a byproduct into a valuable resource. This diagram shows the basic details of how data centers on the seafloor allows for continuous coolant effect, reduction of heat island effects, and pairing with offshore wind power projects to tackle grid and water power simultaneously. The High Cloud Undersea Pilot in Dapeng Peninsula waters is an example of this plan in effect. It is sea-based computing that uses deep ocean currents for 100% natural cooling and achieves a PUE of 1.15 and saves over 100,000 tons of fresh water annually. It's no longer just a concept, but operational and successful right now in Shenzhen. To turn our overall vision into reality, we've designed a 3-phase roadmap based on the current and future progress in Shenzhen, starting in 2026 and reaching full strategic alignment by 2030, ensuring Shenzhen's AI boom and data center buildout is truly sustainable. To fund this 1.5 billion RMB transition, we propose a public-private partnership model where 40% of the capital goes to offshore infrastructure while 35% targets urban retrofitting. This is a shared investment, meaning that 30% from government green subsidies and 70% is co-invested by local tech giants like Tencent and Huawei, ensuring both public benefit and commercial viability. Solving this crisis requires action across every level simultaneously. Policymakers must enforce strict PUE and water standards while incentivizing waste heat reuse, and individuals must consume AI mindfully while demanding local accountability. Just as important are the small everyday steps that we as students, individuals, and communities can take to make a difference. We should use AI intentionally instead of carelessly and mindlessly. Clean up our cloud storage so it doesn't take up unnecessary power. Watch videos at lower resolutions for lower bandwidth and power strain. Choose AI providers who are transparent with their environmental impact. Discuss these issues publicly and advocate for local systems. All these are steps that you and I can do right now. This final slide outlines the core foundation of our research, including policy documents, peer-reviewed urban heat studies, and industry reporting for your further reference. We use AI to help find data, resources, and for organization of our presentation. Thank you for your time and attention. We look forward to a better future together.

Thank you so much. Thank you. You must have been very impressed by those students' thorough research and suggestion for the future of their own life as well. So you must have a lot of questions in mind, but at the end of this session, we are going to send you the link where you can ask questions and then share your reflection. So please write down your questions so that you can take advantage of this survey system and also get in touch with those youth innovators. So now actually I have a very great pleasure to introduce students from Incheon Metropolitan City Office, selected students.

Good afternoon.

While the previous presenters had very great ideas and which makes good sense and we also want to learn from them, but these actually took action to make change in their own community, what they can do. They work over the semester. Now here they are so proud of presenting what they have been working on. So although they may be nervous, but please, with a big smile, give them big hand, please.

Woo!

Okay, the first, Team A, go ahead please.

Good afternoon everyone.

We are students representing Incheon, South Korea. My name is Ji Eun Choi and this is Oh Kim. And also our dedicated team members are Seojin Lee, Seungjo Kim, and So Changho. Today, on behalf of our team, we are excited to present our project, Start young in Jung-gu. Next. Current Jung-gu is losing urban revitalization youth. Statistics show that the youth is declining. Also, research highlights that the number one factor in youth settlement is access to quality jobs. Unfortunately, the old downtown area is failing to provide these opportunities.

Next.

So what is the core issue? As new town developments draw away resources and people, Jung-gu is losing its vitality. Thus, the primary problem isn't a lack of youth startup policies, it is the fragmentation of information.

Next.

We aim to solve this issue through the lenses of SDG 11, Sustainable Cities and Communities. Urban sustainability begins when youth stay, build their businesses, and contribute to their local community. In alignment with Target 11.3, which promotes inclusive and sustainable urbanization, we want to breathe new life into the local economy by encouraging youth startups and guiding them to settle in the old downtown area.

Next.

Thus, This is our fundamental question: how can we effectively connect opportunities to young people and design a youth-friendly platform that genuinely makes them want to build their future in Chungu, Incheon? Next. Our answer is Start Young in Chungu. We propose a website that offers specific startup information and practical support dedicated to Incheon's old downtown. By gathering fragmented data into a single platform, we will increase accessibility and build an infrastructure where young people can achieve their dreams. Next.

Our platform is built around 4 core features. The Youth Support Program consolidates youth policies and local opportunities into a unified hub. The Policy Proposal Center allows young students young people to submit ideas directly, ensuring they have a genuine voice in shaping the policies made for them.

Next.

The AI startup consultant provides instant and personalized guidance the moment it's needed. Finally, the youth space functions as a community board where people can exchange their experiences and local tips with another. Next. Startup information was scattered across dozens of platforms in inconsistent formats. Reviewing and translating it manually would have taken us weeks. AI let us do it faster. With limited web development experience, AI also guided our build, especially our chatbot, which we trained on Jungu's policy data and refined through repeated testing. Every gen— every AI-generated statistics and chatbot response was verified before publishing. Next. 3 primary outcomes emerge once the platform is fully operational. First, accessibility improves as support services and AI consulting are now consolidated in one location. Second, youth engagement increases when the barriers to starting startup are lowered. Third, urban revitalization follows as a growing base of young entrepreneurs generates greater economic activity and vitality throughout the area. Next. Our core value lies in the integration of advanced technology, authentic youth participation, and local partnership enabling young people to become active participants in their own cities. This is also our long-term vision. Nearly every aging downtown district around the world confronts a similar set of challenges: declining youth population and support systems being too scattered to provide meaningful help. For this reason, our Start Young model can be adopted in any city district with only minor adjustments. Going forward, we plan to keep listening to the voices of the youth to turn this vision into reality.

Next.

The future of the city is not determined by its buildings. It's determined by the dreams of people who choose to stay. Today, we choose to believe that every young person deserves the opportunity to build that future. Next. And these are our references. Thank you.

I know they have built the website, right? So we are going to play it after this presentation is over.

Yeah.

Okay, so next, Team B.

Good afternoon, distinguished guests and fellow participants. We are high school students of— we are Team B of high school students from Incheon, South Korea. I'm Jiyeon Choi, and together with Taekwoon Jung, we are presenting today on behalf of our team. Our other team members are Do Hyun Lee, Ha Eun Baek, and Mijoo Choi. Today, we would like to present a practical solution to Incheon's green space challenge by redesigning an existing park in support of SDG 11, Sustainable Cities and Communities. Next. This is the content for our presentation.

Next.

According, according to Statistics Korea and the Korea Forest Service, Incheon has relatively low green space per capita, and citizen satisfaction with nearby green spaces remains low as well. We recognize that this issue could have a serious impact on the health and development of young children. Back, please. Focusing on this problem, we sought to expand green spaces in Incheon. Green spaces take many forms, and among them, we chose parks, the type most easily accessible to children in their daily lives, as a starting point for our solution. However, building new parks proved unrealistic, as most residential districts in Incheon are already fully developed. Therefore, instead of creating new parks, we propose redesigning existing parks into spaces that are both child-friendly and nature-friendly.

Next.

Let me explain what our team has been working on. We decided to redesign Gajong Park in Seogwipo, Incheon. Compared to its size, Gajong Park has very little green space, making it hard for children to use the park. In addition, the trees and playground facilities are not properly maintained. Since similar issues can be found throughout Incheon, we thought Gajang Park would be a good example.

Next.

We visited the park several times and interviewed local residents. Many children told us that the park lacks enough playground facilities. This feedback became the foundation of our redesign.

Next.

We also conducted a survey of parents of elementary school students in Incheon. According to the results, more than half of the parents said that their children do not have enough green spaces to play safely. Next. Finally, we interviewed an expert on urban parks. Through this interview, we learned the basic knowledge needed to redesign urban green spaces. Next. Through these efforts, we came up with this one key idea: what if we created playground facilities for children that are also nature-friendly? Next.

Based on this, we redesigned Gajang Park around 4 core strategies. This is the solution we propose. Using generative AI, we created landscape visualization images to help illustrate how Gojong Park could look after the redesign. Next. First, we created nature-friendly play spaces. We replaced plastic playground equipment with natural materials such as wood, sand, and logs, and redesigned the existing water playground into a nature-based play area where children can explore nature while learning and playing. Next. Second, we expanded green spaces and ecological areas by creating a grass plaza in a poorly managed, abandoned area of Gajang Park. We provided a space where children can play comfortably and families can have picnics, allowing not only children but also families and local residents to enjoy nature up close.

Flows.

Next. Finally, to operate Gajang Park more safely and efficiently, we proposed AI-based smart services. For example, an AI safety monitoring system could be applied so that when young children fall and get injured, artificial intelligence connected to cameras via IoT detects this and automatically contacts the management facility.

Next.

We plan to conduct another survey about our redesign to evaluate how much it improves the urban environment. Furthermore, we will submit our proposal to the Incheon City Council so that it can be considered for future public policy.

Next.

Green playground facilities will improve children's health and development. Also, people of different generations can interact with one another, strengthening the local community. In addition, AI-based safety system can create a reliable public place contributing to a safer city. Next. Ultimately, our project encourages citizens to participate in urban development. We believe this citizen-centered park redesign can contribute to SDG 11, Sustainable Cities and Communities.

Next.

These are the references of our research. Next. Thank you for listening to our presentation.

Very impressive. Great job. So everyone must have some questions, so please write down the question challenging them because they understand they still need to learn more and want to make things happen. So now we have college-level students and also work with graduate schools. Yeah, Miss Reagan Jones and also Mr. Ricky Zhang couldn't make, but they recorded together. Okay, here is your floor.

Thank you so much. So hello everyone, my name is Reagan Jones and my presentation is titled Building and Supporting Sustainable Cities Using AI, STEAM, and Urban Agriculture to Improve Food Accessibility. Our project explores how technology and urban agriculture can work together to address food accessibility challenges in cities such as New York. Before discussing solutions, it's important to understand the problem. Food accessibility refers to whether people can realistically obtain food based on factors such as distance, transportation, and cost. A food desert is an area with limited access to fresh and affordable food, whereas a food swamp is an area where unhealthy food options outnumber nutritious ones. While these focus on food, they also reflect broader challenges in urban planning, infrastructure, and equity. Next slide, please. Food accessibility is influenced by several interconnected factors. Affordability, infrastructure, transportation, and nutrition all play a role. High food prices, uneven grocery store distribution, transportation barriers, and even extreme weather events can limit access to healthy food. Because these issues are connected, addressing food accessibility requires a broader systems-based approach rather than a single solution. Next slide, please. New York City serves as an important case study. Nearly 1 in 4 New Yorkers experience food insecurity, and many neighborhoods face barriers to accessing fresh and affordable food. These challenges often overlap with transportation and economic disparities. This demonstrates that food accessibility is not simply a food issue. It is also an urban planning and community development issue. Next slide, please. Many solutions already exist. Technology-based approaches include vertical farming and mobile grocers. Community-based approaches include gardens and farmers markets. And then policy solutions include SNAP and grocery incentives. While each of these strategies provides benefits, they often address individual barriers rather than the broader urban system. Our project focuses on connecting these efforts through data-driven planning. Next slide, please. Our proposal combines AI, urban planning, and vertical farming into a singular framework. First, AI and urban data are used to identify communities experiencing food accessibility challenges. Next, suitable redevelopment opportunities are identified through strategic site selection. Once appropriate locations are identified, vertical farming hubs can be established and connected to community distribution networks. The innovation is not vertical farming itself, as vertical farming already exists even within New York City. Our contribution is using data-driven planning to help determine what future investments can have the greatest impact. This approach can improve food access while also supporting job creation, resource efficiency, and urban revitalization. As part of our solution, we mentioned AI data analyzation. To do so, we propose a creation of a website to not only analyze this data, but also display it for government, public, and private use. My partner on this project, Ricky Zhang, created a prototype of this dashboard. He explains it on the video in the next slide.

Earlier, we explained that food accessibility is not only about food. It's connected to transportation, cost, infrastructure, climate risk, and neighborhood equity. We also showed that solutions like vertical farms, community gardens, mobile grocers, and policy programs already exist. But the key question is, where should these solutions go, and what kind of support would make them sustainable? That is where this dashboard comes in. At first, the dashboard would be used by government agencies, planners, and community partners. It brings together urban data such as food access, population, income, transportation, existing community resources, and possible redevelopment sites. This helps the city identify which neighborhoods may benefit most from vertical farming investment. The main insight is that that need and feasibility are not the same thing. For example, a neighborhood with low food access and a large elderly population may still be high priority, but it may need paid staff, school partnerships, or nonprofit support instead of relying only on community volunteers. On the other hand, a higher-income area may already have stronger access to fresh food, so public investment may be less urgent. The dashboard then turns these factors into priority categories: high, medium, and lower priority. High priority means the neighborhood has strong need and a realistic opportunity for intervention. Medium priority may mean the area needs more infrastructure or partnership support before a vertical farm can succeed. Another important function is future analysis. With updated or real-time data, the dashboard could track changes in food access, climate risk, transportation barriers, and community needs over time. So it's not just a one-time map, it becomes a planning and risk analysis tool. Finally, once open to the public, residents could use the dashboard to see where food resources are located, what access they have, and where gaps still remain. Overall, the value of this prototype is that it turns data into decisions. It helps cities move from asking, can we build vertical farms, to asking, where are they most needed? What support is required? And how can they create long-term impact?

Thank you.

Farming is already operating successfully in New York City through organizations such as Gotham Greens and Square Roots. These existing operations demonstrate that the technology is viable in the city. So rather than proposing a completely new system, our project focuses on future— on how future expansion can be guided more strategically. By combining AI-guided planning, strategic site selection, and community-focused distribution, cities can identify where vertical farming expansion would have the greatest impact on food accessibility. In other words, Existing firms prove what is possible, while our framework helps determine where future growth should occur. Next slide, please. Our proposal begins by addressing 3 challenges: limited food access, underutilized buildings, and transportation barriers. Locally, this can increase food accessibility, transform vacant spaces into productive community assets, and create employment opportunities. Over time, these local improvements contribute to broader outcomes, including more sustainable cities, stronger community partnerships, and a scalable model that can be adapted in other communities. This demonstrates how local innovation can contribute to global progress and support long-term sustainable development. Next slide, please. Our vision follows 3 phases. First, we launch the initiative through partnerships and data collection. Second, optimize the system by improving food access, reducing food waste, and increasing the availability of nutritious foods. Finally, expand and sustain the model by scaling it across additional communities and establishing long-term partnerships that support both financial and environmental sustainability. Next slide, please. Food accessibility is not only a food issue, but a sustainable city issue. By combining AI, urban planning, and vertical farming, cities can make more informed decisions about where investments are needed most. Through action, we can build stronger, more resilient communities and contribute to sustainable development. Thank you.

Thank you so much. So far we have heard from youth innovators, great ideas. and action they take— they took. So now we would like to have private sector representative. Many presenters were talking about vertical smart farming, so you must have very professional perspective on that. So he's actually running a virtual farm system. So floor is yours. Please briefly introduce what you do and what you'd like to suggest.

Yeah, hi there, everybody. Pretty fun, uh, being that vertical farming is a relatively new technology, this is one of the first times that I've gotten to see that it's become so accepted in how people are thinking about the future that we're actually starting to incorporate it in other layers of plans, be it integrating with data centers and other utilization. So I think that's really incredible. Um, really enjoy seeing all of the ideas that you guys are coming up with. And I think sitting here, I play a slightly different role, right? We're past the idea phase, and everyone has talked about how to really create action and drive from idea to change. And that's a little bit of the journey that I'll walk you guys through here. So very similar to how the rest of the presentations began, right, we also began with our problem statement. Right, we identified an issue, and for us the issue was that, you know, our food systems that we see in the U.S., but frankly globally, are not really prepared to feed the future. In some ways, our supply chain is absolutely incredible. It's a marvel of the modern world in that it has accomplished almost exactly what we set out to build as a human race 100 years ago, right, which was we wanted to get more food to more people in more places at more times of year. And while there are still many who do not have access to food, as we just looked at, statistically more people die from eating too much than eating too little now. And that's really an incredible accomplishment. However, in accomplishing those prior goals, we have also, as the professor discussed, created new unintended consequences. And as you can see in the graph on the right-hand side, while we have decreased the number of people who are going hungry, unfortunately we have replaced them with a different type of, you know, of health challenge. Right. And when you look at the total portion of population that's unhealthy, based on nutrition. It hasn't really changed as a ratio, but its composition has. And that's great, and we think technology really needs to allow us to move further. When you look at the supply chain in the U.S., on average, your food is touched about 14 times between the farm and your table. And that takes a huge toll on the environment, and it takes a huge toll on the food. Right, from the farm it goes to trucking, to packing, processors, you know, retailers. There's so many touch points and steps. And if you think about just the way math works, if each step is incredibly efficient and they only have 2% loss, you know, 2% to the 14th power is all of the food, right? And much, much more. And it's a good example of where no matter how efficient we are in each step Sometimes improving each step is not enough, and you have to come up with a new solution that can really change the structure of the system. And so we went about doing so, and we started off taking one container like the ones you were discussing in a community situation. We took one vertical farming container And we put it on an outdoor farm where there was an outdoor farm, there was a greenhouse, and there was a vertical farm. We took the exact same seeds, we planted it in all 3 locations, ate the food, and wanted to see if it was real food. And it was. And then we took samples and sent them to the University of Auburn to get nutritional data back, hoping that it would be similar. And what we saw was not only was it similar, but it was actually healthier. There was actually higher nutritional content in the vertical farm produce. And that was when we realized that we didn't just have an opportunity to do something, but really had a responsibility to try and help create this technology so that it can be delivered all around the world. When you go about implementing your solution, things come in waves. There are phases. And so at first you have to come up with a proof of concept. Then we scaled rapidly building multiple small farms because we had to develop the technology. We had to run rapid trial and error, and we wanted to parallel path. Because when you talk about there being physics involved, some things you can't speed up. Plants need to grow. You can only speed that up by so much. And so we built parallel farms to trial. a ton of different approaches, and unfortunately we killed a lot of plants. But eventually we figured out what they want, how they like to grow, and how we can build farming systems that are efficient and that are incredibly sustainable. And so we went from a proof of concept to a broad trial phase. Then we refocused to really optimize the solution and built, at the time, I can't quite say the world's first large-scale vertical farm, as there have been many, you know, in Japan and around the world that have tried, but we built what ended up being, I believe, the world's first profitable vertical farm at scale in Cincinnati, Ohio. And once we'd focused and optimized, we had a solution that worked, we then began to scale. And over the last couple years, we've built these sites all around the country to where now we're producing millions and millions and millions of pounds of food every year and doing it in a way that we believe is really incredible. And so what we set about to build is what we like to call Plantopia.

Imagine a farm where there's no need for soil. That uses 95% less water, that has no need for pesticides or GMOs, that grows food 3 times faster with yields 100 times larger on a smaller footprint. Imagine a farm that feeds the plants the ideal amount of light energy with a precise amount of carbon dioxide, nutrients, and airflow, that adjusts temperature and humidity to fit each plant's needs. Imagine a farm that nearly eliminates all food miles from grower to grocer the same day. At 80 Acres Farms, you don't have to imagine this. It already exists. Our team of experts utilize state-of-the-art technology to master the science of farming. Our indoor vertical farms grow the widest variety and the best qualities of greens, herbs, fruits, and vegetables. Our fully automated modular units use smart vision systems that monitor 24/7 to ensure the happiest and healthiest plants. Our growers focus on plant health and nutrition while our robots do the heavy lifting safely and cleanly. Our produce is packaged on-site within a day of harvest. Our custom-built grow zones can be placed anywhere to produce an abundance of fresh produce All year long, regardless of climate. We are the oasis in a food desert. We optimize farming with science and technology to bring Plantopia to life. This is Plantopia. This is 80 Acres Farms.

It's a little bit of an animated video, but it really ties us in to something that we've been able to begin to do. There's been a lot of talk about AI and using it in situations where the information exists. We talked about building tools that connect, right? And the thing that has been really fascinating in our process is that growing outdoors your entire life, you only get maybe 40 or 50 chances to grow your crop.

Mr. Jenkins, is it correct your farm is the world's So you're the first indoor, fully indoor farm, is that correct?

Probably not the first fully.

Not first, but one of the initial?

We're certainly the largest.

I see. So would you like to— could you please share the outcome just briefly so that we can wrap up?

Yeah, so the really exciting thing is you go from 40 to 50 cycles a lifetime to in our systems where you have You know, these large facilities. Our first farm was a 10 by 10 by 10 cube, which means we had 100 fields growing simultaneously. That means we got 2,500 cycles a year instead of 50 cycles a lifetime. And what that's allowed us to do is we talk about infrastructure and how it ties to AI. We've now built the infrastructure that is generating plant data at a quality that has never before existed. And so now we're able to start to use AI to understand what plants want so we can continue to grow them more and more efficiently. And the impact is already becoming real. As you look at the next slide, with the operations we have at scale, and these are a few numbers from now, you know, well over a year ago, Right. But we've saved literally over 100 million gallons of water now and hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of thousands of pounds of food waste. And honestly, last year we did more even than we had in 2025. So as you go through, the nexus concept is real, and I think it's really important to make sure when you're trying to bring your idea to reality, that you think about whether you're in a trial phase or an optimization phase. And as you cycle back and forth, you'll be able to scale your ideas and really create change.

Thank you so much, Mr. Zirkin. Thank you. So just before we have a closing remark from our closing remarks speaker, Dr. Peter Pretziosi. While you are here getting ready, I would like to ask one question to all our youth who can answer. Would you like to ask one question to them?

Please.

No, do you want me to ask?

Yeah, just one question.

What I wanted to just say was how awesome, how inspiring. I know I learned a lot. I'm sure I'm sure all of you learned a lot. And I really want to congratulate Congo board member Dr. Eunice Young for putting this on, our distinguished guests, our partners, the speakers. I mean, this was just a tremendous, tremendous program. Thank you so much. For those of you, we are— I just want to let you know we are a consortium of about 600 NGOs from around the world. And we are doing a soft launch here at HLPF of our civil society media desk and our Congo Learning Institute for our youth, for everyone. And come to the 7th floor at the Church Center across the street if you'd like to learn a little bit more about that. We also are launching on Monday a report on how NGOs are advancing the Sustainable Development Goals. And that report will be up on our website, ngocongo.org, for those of you that would like to read what NGOs from around the world are doing at the nexus. I loved what was said by our speakers. So thank you very much. Really appreciate that.

Thank you, Dr. Ricciotti. So now we would like to I would like to close today's session, but I cannot really leave without asking questions. Is there anyone, just one person have burning question? Young person, so many.

Okay.

Can you please show the link? Everyone please go there. In the meantime, who was the first one? Okay. Let's point who I should choose. 1, 2, 3.

I.

Here?

Okay, go ahead. To the young students here, right? Briefly, please. No statement, just question.

Yeah.

As AI becomes increasingly integrated into our daily lives, how important do you think AI education is for young people? And beyond learning how to use AI, how can we ensure that youth also understand its ethical, human rights, and sustainability implications so they can also meaningfully contribute to reshaping responsible AI. My name is Aditya Daita, and I'm a delegate on behalf of the Buddha Tsuchi Foundation.

Thank you.

Thank you. Anyone would like to comment?

I think AI education is one of the— is increasingly one of the most important parts of education we have now. As a graduate student in college, I find it's increasingly more important that students kind of want to take the easy way out and use AI for assignments or to do various different things. Like Mr. Madani was saying, you know, instead of going to ChatGPT and saying, hey, what recipe is this, you can just use Google. That's still an option we have. Google hasn't gone away. So I think AI education is going to be a very integral part going forward. I know from just personal experience There are different kinds of agencies. Law enforcement is now having to undergo, at least where I'm from, mandatory AI education. And I think it's not just in an educational area. AI is in every sector of our lives now, you know, whether we approve of that or not. And it's only going to continue doing that. So in order to fully understand the ethical and human rights implications, we have to understand what AI does, what it does for us, and how it could help us instead of harming us.

Wow, what a great statement. Thank you so much. You did already closing remarks. Uh, so here, students sitting here, if you have any comment you'd like to share, please, just one person you can do. Actually, I would like to ask you, when you, you've been using AI to develop your project and implement your project, is anyone from The floor here, speakers, and then the group. Would you like to share what was the biggest concern or mindset you had in your mind when you were building your project? What was thinking when you were doing this project? Oh, go ahead.

So, So when we were building our project, the first thing that we wanted to consider was what will we actually need as the youth, and what things that would be really beneficial for us if we had it. So for our project, we did make a website for the startup, because when we researched through the other websites that contained the support systems, there weren't really many information all in one place. So we thought that if we were the people who wanted to start a business, then we would really need a place where it has all the information scattered. And yeah, and what was your question again?

What was the biggest concern or the mindset you had in your mind when you're using AI and to perform your project?

And as for our project, we did make a chatbot. And while making the chatbot, we always considered that the AI— we shouldn't be controlled by AI, and we should put in the information that we want the AI to give us. So we all did our research, and we all gained information from the official sites so it can provide information that are accurate. and people can be using it without any wrong information.

Thank you.

Wow, wonderful. Thank you so much. Any— just one more person? No, from this group? They are raising hands. I feel so bad, but you know, we have part 2 next session. We are going to play some video you couldn't play this time, and we are going to continue our discussion. discussion. So thank you so much for coming here. As students just mentioned, we shouldn't be controlled by AI, but basically how we cannot be? Because we should have global citizenship, always think about value, what human— how humanity is different from machine, then it will guide us how to use machine and keep our humanity to be at the center. Thank you so much for for being with us. Thank you.

Thank you.