On February 12 and 13, 2026, a wave of new research, expert commentary, and real-world stories converged around a single theme: artificial intelligence is rapidly reshaping how societies confront poverty, conflict, and even personal health. From MIT’s Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) launching its ambitious Project AI Evidence, to doctors in Missouri fielding patient questions sourced from AI chatbots, and researchers in Oslo exploring AI’s potential to forecast wars, the landscape of AI for social good is expanding—and so are the questions and cautions that come with it.
At the heart of this movement is J-PAL’s Project AI Evidence (PAIE), which, as announced on February 12, has awarded funding to eight new studies aimed at rigorously evaluating how AI innovations can help combat poverty. According to MIT’s J-PAL, the project’s mission is clear: connect governments, tech companies, nonprofits, and economists to identify which AI solutions are truly effective, inclusive, and responsible. The ultimate goal? Scale up what works, and scale down what doesn’t—or worse, what might cause harm.
PAIE’s first round of funding is already tackling some of the most pressing questions facing policymakers today. For example, can AI-assisted teaching tools help all children learn, regardless of background? In Kenya, the education social enterprise EIDU has developed an AI tool that helps teachers pinpoint student learning gaps and adapt lesson plans accordingly. In India, the NGO Pratham is working on an AI-powered version of its "Teaching at the Right Level" approach, aiming to make personalized learning accessible even in resource-limited settings. J-PAL researchers Daron Acemoglu, Iqbal Dhaliwal, and Francisco Gallego are leading studies to evaluate these tools’ impacts on both teacher productivity and student outcomes.
Another PAIE-funded study is breaking new ground in Italy, where researchers are collaborating with the Ministry of Education to see if AI can help reduce gender bias in schools. The project will test two AI tools: one that predicts student performance and another that gives real-time feedback to teachers about the diversity of their decisions. According to J-PAL, these efforts could offer fresh strategies for closing gender gaps in educational achievement—a persistent challenge in many countries.
But AI’s reach doesn’t stop at the classroom door. In Kenya, researchers are working with NGOs Swahilipot and Tabiya to see if AI can help career counselors identify overlooked skills, unlocking employment opportunities for youth, women, and those without formal education. As J-PAL researcher Christian Meyer and Jasmin Baier evaluate the tool’s impact, the hope is to show that AI can complement, rather than replace, human expertise in career guidance.
Backing this ambitious initiative is a diverse coalition of supporters: Google.org, Community Jameel, Canada’s International Development Research Centre, UK International Development, Amazon Web Services, and a grant from Eric and Wendy Schmidt. Alex Diaz, head of AI for social good at Google.org, emphasized the urgency of this work, stating, “AI has great potential to benefit all people, but we urgently need to study what works, what doesn’t, and why, if we are to realize this potential.” Maggie Gorman-Velez of IDRC echoed this sentiment, noting, “Artificial intelligence holds extraordinary potential, but only if the tools, knowledge, and power to shape it are accessible to all—that includes contextually grounded research and evidence on what works and what does not.”
PAIE is chaired by Professor Joshua Blumenstock of the University of California at Berkeley, J-PAL Global Executive Director Iqbal Dhaliwal, and Professor David Yanagizawa-Drott of the University of Zurich. The initiative is also launching a series of funding competitions to invite more proposals for evaluating AI tools that address a wide array of social challenges, from flood early-warning systems to machine learning for reducing Amazon deforestation.
J-PAL’s track record gives the project a solid foundation: since 2003, its network has led over 2,500 evaluations of social policies and programs globally. As Dhaliwal put it, “J-PAL has a long history of evaluating innovative technology and its ability to improve people’s lives. While AI has incredible potential, we need to maximize its benefits and minimize possible harms. We’re grateful to our donors, sponsors, and collaborators for their catalytic support in launching PAIE, which will help us do exactly that by continuing to expand evidence on the impacts of AI innovations.”
Meanwhile, the Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO) released a paper on February 12 highlighting how AI can contribute to peace by improving conflict forecasting, scenario modeling, and decision-making. According to PRIO’s Håvard Hegre, AI’s abilities in visual perception, text recognition, and risk analysis can help monitor and anticipate armed conflicts, ultimately supporting anticipatory action to reduce suffering. The paper, originally published in Spanish by the Barcelona Centre for International Affairs in 2025, argues that strengthening the information base for decision-makers is a key step in mitigating the human cost of war.
The real-world impact of AI is also being felt in everyday healthcare. On February 13, KFVS reported from Cape Girardeau, Missouri, where patients are increasingly turning to AI chatbots for medical advice before visiting their doctors. Dr. Andrew Godbey of St. Francis Healthcare System noted, “AI is the future, it’s what’s happening.” He and Dr. Jehan Murugaser of Mercy Southeast both see patients arriving with AI-generated printouts analyzing their symptoms. “They want to know what’s going on with them. They’re taking the time to look it up,” Dr. Murugaser observed, appreciating the increased engagement in personal health.
Yet both doctors urge caution. As Dr. Godbey explained, “When you’re asking it to diagnose, it doesn’t know your history. It doesn’t know what medications you’re on. It can’t look at you and go ‘Hey, you look a little sick.’” The greatest concern is that patients might mistake AI’s advice for a substitute for professional care. “I don’t want AI to talk them out of seeking care,” Godbey stressed. Still, AI has proven helpful in summarizing dietary advice and explaining complex diagnoses in plain language. Dr. Murugaser even uses AI tools like Dax for note-taking and AiDoc for flagging urgent radiology findings, freeing up time for patient interaction and speeding up detection of life-threatening conditions.
Across these stories, a common thread emerges: artificial intelligence, when responsibly developed and carefully evaluated, holds promise for improving lives, reducing suffering, and bridging gaps in everything from education to healthcare to global security. But as the experts and practitioners are quick to remind us, the technology is only as good as the evidence supporting it—and the human judgment guiding its use.