For Giulia Vitagliano, the future of artificial intelligence does not lie in faster algorithms or more powerful machines. Rather, it concerns matters of social justice, human rights, and equity. Giulia, as a digital expert with the Chief Digital Office and the UNDP Rome Centre for Climate Action and Energy Transition, is currently spearheading efforts to ensure artificial intelligence serves everyone and not just a select few.
She cites William Gibson, saying, “The future is already here; it is just unequally distributed.” For her, that quote is indicative of the digital reality she grapples with: technology continues to progress at an astonishing pace, yet the ability to access it remains severely unequal around the world.
From Literature to Leadership in Tech
Giulia, an international relations specialist with a background in European policy, entered technology through literature, particularly Orwell’s 1984. She found that Orwell’s warnings about technology were often used to promote democracy, human rights, and a fairer world. Her conviction has shaped her current role at UNDP, where she leads the AI Hub for Sustainable Development, an international project financed by the Italian government. Giulia’s work highlights the importance of understanding the technological aspect of control and power, rather than focusing on the potential for technology to be used for achieving democracy and human rights.
Complementing the AI Divide
The AI Hub, led by Giulia, aims to include developing countries in the artificial intelligence race and contribute millions to the world economy by 2030. The project, which benefits only 10% of the global south, focuses on providing technology, skilled personnel, and raw materials for AI development.
The AI Hub supports ethical AI development through four core pillars: improving access to data, strengthening green computing resources, building local skills and knowledge, and shaping institutional frameworks. Giulia emphasizes the importance of representational data, local expertise, affordable and sustainable computing, and policies that encourage ethical AI development. One critical issue is the lack of systematic datasets in some African countries, which are essential for operational AI systems. Giulia and her team are working with other organizations to improve the availability of open, high-quality data while ensuring privacy and digital rights are not compromised.
Empowering Talent, One Program At A Time
Equally important for Giulia is addressing the talent gap. With the support of UNDP, Giulia has been tasked with creating collaborations with universities, research institutions, and the private sector to implement training and mentorship programs, as well as collaborative research initiatives aimed at building AI capacity in underrepresented global south regions.
“She noted, ‘There’s great momentum in Africa’s digitalization, with increasing investments in local AI ecosystems and a growing pool of young talent.” Sub-Saharan countries are emerging as consumers and innovators of advanced technologies, accelerating their development into consumers before they passively depend on cutting-edgelogies tailor-made for them.”
Every Language Matters
AI Hub strategists have launched Every Language Matters, a program aimed at digitizing low-resource languages in Africa and other regions. The initiative involves scholars, private institutions, and non-governmental organizations to ensure linguistic diversity is included in the design of IT systems. The goal is to digitize more African languages and dialects, allowing local AI researchers and entrepreneurs to design technology in their native languages instead of only in high-resource languages. This initiative aims to showcase the linguistic wealth of the continent and promote a more inclusive AI landscape.
A Platform for the Future
In June 2025, the AI Hub plans to open its headquarters in Rome, where it will meet its goals to act as a global platform for the acceleration of responsibly centered innovation, multidisciplinary collaborations, and AI capacity-building work.
“Technology is shaped by the perspectives and values of those who create it,” observes Giulia. “Their AI systems must be allowed to adequately integrate and depict the plurality of human experiences and lived realities.”
Giulia’s blend of technology, policy, and social justice underscores a vital reality: the potency of AI exists not only in its algorithms but also in the narratives driving its development.
With programs such as the AI Hub, Giulia Vitagliano is aiding in constructing a digital future where no one will be excluded from the advances of technology.
