Two colliding trends are reshaping the future of global development: the rapid contraction of the international aid system and the accelerating adoption of artificial intelligence. As aid budgets shrink and AI capabilities expand, governments, multilateral organizations, and technology companies are making decisions that will shape how development is delivered for decades to come. Automating Aid examines whether AI can help build a more effective, locally driven, and inclusive development system—or whether it will reinforce existing inequalities in new forms.

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Drawing on original interviews with policymakers, technologists, development practitioners, and civil society leaders across multiple regions, the project explores how AI is already transforming global health, education, governance, climate, and humanitarian action. It argues that the future of development will depend not on the technology itself, but on the institutional choices made about how AI is designed, governed, and deployed—and offers a roadmap for ensuring those choices strengthen, rather than undermine, global development.