LocationsLessons from the AI for Good Global Summit
Building inclusive futures through youth-driven AI and global collaboration
July 17, 2025
Yejin Choi, Founder of Dubu and Generation17 alum, and Yu Ping Chan, Head of Digital Partnerships at the UNDP Chief Digital Office, attended the AI for Good Summit and spoke during a session on youth, digital partnerships and AI.
At the AI for Good Global Summit 2025 held this July in Geneva, I had the honour of speaking on the Solutions Stage as a Generation17 alum and the co-founder of Dubu. It was a powerful moment both personally and as part of a broader movement exploring AI's real-world social impact.
Redefining what technology means: Dubu's origin and the role of AI
During my talk, I presented our company, Dubu, and shared a live demo of our AI-based speech therapy agent, Pingpong.
Dubu was born from a simple yet urgent question I asked while volunteering as a therapist: “Can technology help children waiting for care, like the hundreds of North Korean refugee children I encountered?” Seeing over 600 children on my waitlist sparked something in me. What began as a basic app has now grown into a platform supporting over 700,000 families across more than 10 countries, including the United States, Canada, India and Korea.
Today, with Pingpong, we are leveraging AI to help children communicate effectively across a range of contexts. This includes situations where therapy services are geographically inaccessible, parents have demanding schedules, professional therapists are unavailable, or families are seeking supplemental support. At Dubu, we believe communication is a basic human right. Our mission is to provide accessible, consistent support for all families, ensuring no child faces barriers to their developmental potential, regardless of their circumstances.
Yejin's company Dubu has developed Pingpong, an AI-based speech therapy agent.
Breaking through barriers: UNDP, Generation17 and a journey of collaboration
My journey with Generation17 began at a time when I was seeking not only solutions but also solidarity. Through the programme, I connected with 20 young changemakers from around the world, each leading initiatives in human rights, climate justice, education, healthcare and more. These individuals were not just peers; they became collaborators, mentors and reflections of shared purpose. Together, we learned that meaningful impact is not created in isolation but through community. To go far, we must go together.
That spirit of shared purpose continued in our partnership with Samsung. It wasn’t just about resources; it was about shared action. In one unforgettable moment, we visited a school in Cambodia alongside Samsung volunteers. We brought tablets preloaded with Dubu’s special education content and facilitated learning sessions with the children. Singing songs, solving puzzles and exploring digital tools hand-in-hand with the students, we witnessed something powerful: technology becomes transformative only when it puts people at its heart.
Through Generation17, Samsung and UNDP have done more than simply connect us. They have broadened our perspectives, illuminated the purpose behind our work and brought greater visibility to our mission. Generation17 introduced us to mentors who guided us from initial ideas to meaningful action, expanded our networks and enabled us to transform passion into practical change on a global scale. This support has been instrumental in turning our aspirations into lasting impact.
AI for good: Building technology that truly serves everyone
"Digital tools hold enormous potential—but that potential is not distributed equally."
These were the opening words from Yu Ping Chan, UNDP’s Head of Digital Partnerships, and they’ve stuck with me.
While AI promises incredible breakthroughs, it can also deepen inequality. Only 2 percent of global data centres are in Africa. The majority of the world’s youth still lacks access to basic tech infrastructure. That’s why inclusion, accessibility and collaboration must come before code or algorithms.
At Dubu, we believe inclusion must be designed, not assumed.
Take sound, for example. Many children on the autism spectrum experience heightened sensitivity to auditory stimuli. In fact, some of the most commonly used sound effects in children's apps can be too overwhelming for them to tolerate. When we first launched, nearly 20 percent of users were unable to continue using the app due to the sound design.
So we went back to the drawing board. Working closely with composers and sound engineers, we researched the specific frequencies, tonal ranges and textures that would be more accessible to these children. We redesigned our entire audio environment with their sensory needs in mind. The result? The rate of sound-related dropouts dropped dramatically from 20 percent to just 1 percent.
The value of AI isn’t defined by its complexity, but by its care: who it’s for, how it’s built and the values that shape it. We’re still learning. We remain committed to building technology that embodies not only intelligence, but also compassion.
"The majority of the world’s youth still lacks access to basic tech infrastructure. That’s why inclusion, accessibility and collaboration must come before code or algorithms."
Designing with purpose: Lessons from the AI for Good Global stage
As the co-founder of an AI startup, I ask myself the same question every day:
“Where are we headed, and what should we build next?”
At Dubu, we are not a large tech company. We do not have unlimited resources to hire top-tier AI engineers or to build foundational models from the ground up. However, this reality has taught us to concentrate on something even more fundamental:
How are we designing—and for whom?
This question became especially clear during the AI for Good Global Summit. As I explored the exhibitions and listened to presentations, I noticed a recurring theme among the most impactful projects: a deep understanding of the users' context.
While many teams relied on similar foundation models behind the scenes, the most memorable ones distinguished themselves through intentional application, empathy and a clear understanding of whom they were building for.
This reminded me of an observation made by Andrej Karpathy, former co-founder of OpenAI. Reflecting on successful LLM-powered applications, Karpathy noted that they tend to share three key traits: they orchestrate multiple models based on user needs, provide intuitive graphical interfaces and allow users to adjust the level of autonomy the AI operates with. Many of the standout teams at the summit embodied this very idea in practice.
That philosophy resonates strongly with us at Dubu. Our work often begins not with models or metrics, but with listening: to parents, to educators, to the children themselves. The most meaningful innovations we’ve built have come from that starting point whether it’s simplifying interactions, reducing sensory load, or designing interfaces that children with diverse needs can navigate independently. For us, accessibility isn't a checklist; it's the core of our product thinking.
What this summit affirmed for me is something I’ve long believed: In the age of AI, enduring impact won’t come from sophistication alone. It will come from empathy.
The technologies that will stand the test of time are those that move toward people, not away from them.
Echoes from the Human Development Report
Around the same time, I was also invited to speak at the Korea launch of the 2025 Human Development Report. I was struck by how deeply the themes of the report echoed the questions our team at Dubu grapples with every day. Reading it was genuinely eye-opening; the alignment was remarkably strong.
It served as a reminder that what we are building is not solely about technical advancement. It is about dignity, inclusion and expanding human potential, especially for those who are often overlooked by traditional systems.
At Dubu, we do not have unlimited resources or perfect solutions. We navigate bugs and setbacks on a daily basis. But the report reaffirmed why effort matters and why it is worth continuing to believe in a vision of AI that stands beside people, not above them.
Focused on inclusion, Dubu’s special education content serves children and families in contexts where traditional therapy is inaccessible.
Youth, technology and the power of partnership
True AI for good is not just about the technology itself; it is about how it is shaped and who you build it with.
This summit reinforced a message I carry with me: youth are not passive recipients of innovation. We are co-creators of global solutions.
Dubu is still learning, still growing. But one thing is clear: genuine partnerships have been the single most important force helping us overcome limitations and keep moving forward.
AI has the power to directly impact 70 percent of the Sustainable Development Goals. But without ethical design, inclusion and collaboration, that power risks being misused or inaccessible.
That’s why Yu Ping’s words continue to resonate:
“Technology becomes truly universal only when built in partnership.”
Governments bring policy. Corporations bring capital and tools. The United Nations brings fairness and a framework for human rights. Civil society brings the voice of lived experience. It is only when these forces move in unison that we can ensure AI is not only intelligent but also just. And perhaps that is the essence of it all. That is what ‘AI for Good’ truly means.
We’re grateful to UNDP, Samsung and every Generation17 leader for walking this path with us. At Dubu, our commitment remains clear—to build a future where AI truly uplifts, empowers and includes everyone, everywhere.
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