Opening remarks were delivered by Nazgul Kubakaeva, Director of the Association of Creative Industries, and Patrick Haverman, Deputy Resident Representative of UNDP in the Kyrgyz Republic. In his address, Patrick Haverman noted that the country is steadily investing in digital transformation, innovation and the development of creative industries, creating new opportunities for young professionals, entrepreneurs and developers — and that UNDP remains committed to supporting these efforts. 

UNDP Human Development Report: Key Findings 

The panel discussion was preceded by a presentation of key findings from the 2025 UNDP Human Development Report "A Matter of Choice: People and Possibilities in the Age of AI", delivered by Azamat Usubaliev, Head of the Sustainable Economic Development Cluster at UNDP. 

According to the report, global progress in human development is slowing. The gap between countries with very high and low Human Development Index (HDI) scores is narrowing at an increasingly slow pace. Kyrgyzstan, in this context, continues to demonstrate steady positive progress. The country's HDI value in 2023 stood at 0.720 — placing it in the "High Human Development" category and ranking it 117th out of 193 countries. Since 1990, the index has grown by 10.9%. At the same time, challenges remain in gender equality and access to digital opportunities — areas where AI could serve as a genuine catalyst for development. 

The report underscores that one of the key risks associated with the development of artificial intelligence is the potential to deepen existing inequalities. Crucially, the extent to which AI delivers benefits depends not on the technology itself, but on how it is applied in practice — through regulation, skills development and ensuring equitable access to digital opportunities. 

Panel Discussion: Five Perspectives 

Azamat Burzhuev, expert on digital transformation and public administration, highlighted that the deployment of AI within government systems depends not only on the level of technology, but on institutional readiness, data quality and the state's willingness to be accountable for the consequences of algorithmic decisions. 

Alexey Lysogorov, Art Director, examined AI's impact on the design process. Technologies are now significantly accelerating workflows, enabling individual specialists to handle tasks that previously required entire teams. Yet when it comes to deep creativity, human judgment continues to hold the leading role. 

Mirbek Okenov, Co-founder and CEO of ULUT Soft, focused on the question of technological agency. Central to his remarks was the need to develop a national language corpus as the foundation for Kyrgyz-language AI models — and as a condition for greater technological self-sufficiency. 

Darya Sukhodolova, Country Manager of Lalafo Kyrgyzstan, addressed the ways in which AI is reshaping user experience in business. As digital platforms become increasingly precise in predicting user behavior, convenience grows — but so do questions about the boundaries of personalization and the freedom of choice. 

Aisuluu Zhamangulova, Co-founder of MUGALIMAI, identified AI's impact on education and human thinking as one of the most sensitive challenges of the age. Her central point: technology must be used in ways that strengthen the human capacity to think, choose and create — not replace these processes with ready-made answers. 

AI is Already Here — The Question is How We Use It 

The panel resonated strongly with a central conclusion of the 2025 UNDP Human Development Report: artificial intelligence has already become part of daily life — in public services, business, education and everyday decisions. According to the report, two thirds of people worldwide expect to start using AI in education, healthcare or at work within the next year, and six in ten believe it will open new opportunities. 

The discussion confirmed that AI's positive potential — personalized services, improved decision-making, and expanded access to knowledge and resources — is real and already being felt. At the same time, speakers identified concrete risks: the subtle erosion of freedom of choice, growing dependence on algorithmic systems, and the threat of intellectual passivity. 

Behind the conversation about designers, developers and entrepreneurs who are amplifying their work with AI lies another question — about those who do not yet fit into that picture. Discussions about autonomous vehicles or algorithmic systems inevitably circle back to a human reality: what happens to those whose livelihoods are disappearing. This is not an argument against technology. It is an argument for talking about AI honestly — not only as a tool of growth for those already integrated into the digital economy, but as a challenge for those at risk of being left behind. 

That is why the most important outcome of the session was not a ready-made answer, but a shared recognition that this conversation must continue — openly, and with the voices not only of those who build technology, but of those whose lives are being shaped by it. 

About the Festival 

The Create4 Festival of Creative Industries is a unique platform for developing and supporting the creative economy, launched by UNDP in Kyrgyzstan and the Association of Creative Industries in 2022. 

Official partners of Create4Design in the Age of AI: Park of Creative Industries, the ololo group of companies, and Namba Media agency.