The Future of AI in Humanitarian Action

This report highlights the insights generated through a cross-sector convening hosted by The Conduit in partnership with Purpose Union and supported by Google.org. It explores how artificial intelligence is beginning to reshape humanitarian action, and what is required to ensure its deployment strengthens rather than undermines equity, effectiveness and accountability across the sector.

Set against a backdrop of significant systemic pressure, with humanitarian funding down 53% over the past two years and only 26% of global needs currently met, the report examines both the opportunity and the constraints shaping AI adoption. While AI technologies are increasingly capable of improving forecasting, accelerating decision-making and reducing administrative burden, their use in humanitarian contexts remains limited due to fragmented implementation, infrastructure gaps, ethical concerns and uneven organisational capacity.

The report synthesises the key insights emerging from the convening and translates them into implications for the sector, focusing on the conditions required for responsible and scalable adoption of AI in humanitarian settings.

Key insights include:

• Local leadership is essential: Effective AI deployment depends on community-defined needs, locally grounded data practices and meaningful participation in governance structures
• Collaboration remains underdeveloped: The absence of consistent mechanisms connecting humanitarian actors, technologists and funders continues to limit innovation and scale
• Fragmentation is constraining impact: Short-term pilots and disconnected initiatives are preventing shared learning, interoperability and long-term sustainability
• Ethical safeguards must be embedded early: Issues such as data protection, consent and safeguarding require proactive design rather than retrospective correction
• Infrastructure and capacity gaps persist: Without sustained investment in tools, skills and systems, access to AI risks remaining concentrated among well-resourced organisations

The report also sets out practical pathways for action, including the development of cross-sector collaboration forums, ethical AI coalitions, capacity-building initiatives and shared infrastructure models to support wider adoption.

Overall, it highlights a sector at a pivotal moment: AI holds significant promise, but realising its benefits will depend on coordinated investment in systems, partnerships and governance that enable inclusive and responsible use at scale.